Probe Agency Makes Fresh Arrest In Rajasthan's Jal Jeevan Mission Case

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has made a fresh arrest in connection with its money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme being implemented in Rajasthan.

Padamchand Jain, proprietor of Shree Shyam Tubewell Company, was taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Jaipur on Thursday.

He was produced before a special court in Jaipur on Friday and was sent to the ED custody until June 18, the federal agency said in a statement.

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) launched by the Union government aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through household tap connections and it is being implemented in Rajasthan by the state's Public Health Engineering (PHE) department.

A man named Piyush Jain was the first to be arrested in this case by the federal agency in February.

"Padamchand Jain was involved in securing tenders pertaining to JJM works based on purported fake and fabricated work completion certificates issued by IRCON by bribing senior PHED officials," the agency alleged.

Mr Jain, it claimed, is one of the "main accused" and is in receipt of proceeds of crime in his company.

These proceeds were "laundered and layered" through a number of bank accounts held in his name, entities and in the name of his family members, which was further siphoned off by investment in immovable and movable properties, the ED said.

The agency's investigation found Padamchand Jain and others were involved in giving bribes to public servants in order to obtain illegal protection, obtaining tenders, getting bills sanctioned and covering up irregularities in works executed by them in respect of various tenders received by them from the PHED.

The suspects were also involved in the purchase of stolen goods from Haryana for using the same in their tenders/contracts and had also submitted "fake" work completion letters from IRCON to get PHED contracts, the agency claimed.

The money laundering case of the ED stems from an FIR registered by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) against Padamchand Jain, Mahesh Mittal (proprietor of Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company), Piyush Jain and others.

Premises in Jaipur and Dausa, including the residential and official premises of senior PHE department officials, former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi and IAS officer and the then additional chief secretary Subodh Agarwal, have been searched by the ED in connection with the probe.

Assets worth Rs 11.03 crore have been attached in the case till now. 

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