Rs 39 Lakh "Unaccounted Cash" Seized In Raids On Ex-Rajasthan Minister In Money Laundering Case

The ED on Wednesday said it has seized Rs 39 lakh "unaccounted" cash after searches were carried out against former Rajasthan PHE department minister Mahesh Joshi and others as part of a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The searches were launched on Tuesday at eight locations in state capital Jaipur and Banswara and apart from Joshi, officials of the public health engineering (PHE) department and private individuals were also covered.

"A total of Rs 39 lakh unaccounted cash along with various incriminating documents including property details, digital evidence, mobiles were seized," the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.

It did not specify what amount was seized from whom.

The money laundering case stems from a Rajasthan anti-corruption bureau FIR against Padamchand Jain, the proprietor of Shree Shyam Tubewell Company, Mahesh Mittal, the proprietor of Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company, and others.

The FIR alleged that those named were involved in "giving bribes" to public servants to obtain illegal protection, obtain tenders, get bills sanctioned and cover up irregularities in works executed by them under various tenders received by them from the PHE department.

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

Premises in Jaipur and Dausa, including the residential and official premises of senior PHE department officials and IAS officer and the then additional chief secretary Subodh Agarwal, were searched by the ED last year.

The agency had earlier claimed that several middlemen and property dealers "aided" officials of the state government's PHE department to siphon off "illegally earned" money from the Jal Jeevan Mission.

A probe found that contractors were involved in securing tenders pertaining to Jal Jeevan Mission work, based on purported "fake" work completion certificates issued by the Indian Railway Construction International Limited (IRCON) and by "bribing" senior PHE department officials, it had alleged.

The total seizure of valuables by the ED in this case stands at Rs 11.42 crore now, including gold and silver worth Rs 6.50 crore, the agency said.

Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had alleged that central agencies were acting on the directions of the BJP-led government at the Centre to target opposition leaders and Congress-led state governments.

In the 2023 Assembly polls, the BJP wrested Rajasthan from the Congress.

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