Jharkand Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case that surfaced during the investigation into the misappropriation of MNREGA funds.
Ms Singhal was the Deputy Collector of Khunti District when MNREGA funds were allegedly misappropriated.
The money was earmarked for the execution of various government projects under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) in Khunti district.
The agency has also seized over Rs 17 crore from her Chartered Accountant during the searches last week.
Ms Singhal was arrested after the second consecutive questioning session at the agency's offices in Ranchi. Arriving in the morning, she was questioned for over nine hours today. The statement of her businessman husband Abhishek Jha has also been recorded.
The questioning came after the agency conducted raids against the bureaucrat and her husband in Jharkhand and a few other locations.
The agency has also seized four SUVs -- a Jaguar, a Fortuner and two Honda brand cars -- which were in the name of arrested CA Suman Kumar and people linked to him under the anti-money laundering law.
The case against Ms Singhal surfaced after a former junior engineer of the Jharkhand government, Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, was arrested by the agency in June 2020 for corruption and cheating. Binod Prasad Sinha had also embezzled MNREGA funds with the help of government officials by giving them hefty commissions.
During questioning, he told the Enforcement Directorate that "he paid five per cent commission (out of the defrauded funds) to the district administration".
In that period, Ms Singhal -- who was serving as the deputy commissioner/district magistrate of Chatra, Khunti and Palamu -- was accused of "irregularities".
In a remand note presented in court, the agency -- which is probing his alleged links with the officer and her husband -- claimed the couple received cash to the tune of Rs 1.43 crore.
