The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at various locations in Jaipur and Alwar to probe the alleged scam in implementation of the Centre's ‘Jal Jeevan Mission' in the state.
Around a dozen premises belonging to engineers, contractors, and some former state government officials in Jaipur, Alwar, and a few other cities were searched by ED teams under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
PHED minister Mahesh Joshi said that investigating agencies are free to do their jobs.
“But then they must conduct free and fair probe. They should not do it merely to create panic and fear among people,” he told The BuckStopper.
According to sources, a team from Gujarat has come to conduct searches in this case. The sources said that a cash amount of Rs 2.5 crore and one kg of gold brick has been recovered from officials and contractors of water department.
The central agency has also conducted raids on retired RAS officers including Mahesh Mittal and Amitabh Kaushik, a serving tehsildar in JDA Suresh Sharma, property dealers Sanjay, Kalyan Singh Kavya and engineers including Vishal Saxena and Maya Lal Saini, who had also been interrogated ACB. It is said that maximum cash of Rs 1.5 crore has been recovered from Amitabh Kaushik who allegedly used to broker deals between contractors and officers.
More officers will be probed
The ED is likely to conduct routine enquiry with senior officials including additional chief and chief engineers of PHED handling Jal Jeevan Mission. The central agency may also discuss the case with a senior IAS officer.
Sources said that the central agency is keen on jotting all the dots in this case.
Incriminating documents, gadgets recovered
Some documents and gadgets have been recovered from these premises.
Earlier the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajasthan had arrested two officials and some middlemen in the alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission and the money laundering case is understood to have stemmed from the FIR registered by ACB.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena had in June alleged a scam of ₹20,000 crore in the implementation of the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission' in Rajasthan.
He had alleged that tenders worth ₹900 crore were issued to two firms based on fake experience certificates in 48 projects of the scheme.
“A scam of ₹20,000 crore was committed under the Centre's Jal Jeevan Mission. This was done together by the PHED minister and the department secretary,” Meena had alleged.
In the meantime, the election in charge of BJP Rajasthan Prahlad Joshi has alleged that there is direct involvement of ministers and MLAs in this corruption, when corruption has taken place then action has to be taken.
While the Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra said that these raids are being conducted to harass the state government, we are farmers and not scared of such actions.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
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