Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sanjeev Hans is likely to be taken on remand for further questioning in connection with a money laundering case lodged against him.
The Enforcement Directorate, investigating allegations of corruption against him, is set to submit a petition to the court on Monday seeking his remand.
The decision to remand the senior bureaucrat follows the arrest of former Jhanjarpur MLA Gulab Yadav and Praveen Choudhary, who is believed to be a close associate of Hans.
During interrogation, Yadav and Choudhary reportedly provided vital information regarding money transactions through hawala.
“We will submit a petition in the competent court requesting it to allow us to take Sanjeev Hans on remand for interrogation,” said an investigating officer.
He also said that a team of ED officials reached Beur Central Jail on Saturday with the two arrested persons, who were brought to Patna from New Delhi on transit remand.
Flat in Delhi purchased at Rs 9.25 crore
Praveen Choudhary, a contractor from Madhubani district in Bihar, had purchased a flat in New Delhi where the family members of the IAS officer are living. Sources indicated that Choudhary bought the flat in Anand Niketan for Rs 9.25 crore in March 2023. The ED has collected documents related to the purchase of the flat in the national capital.
On Sunday, the IAS officer's wife, Mona Hans, visited Beur Central Jail in Patna to meet her husband, who has been shifted to the vigilance ward of the prison.
Request for separate toilet and home meal turned down
Meanwhile, the IAS officer has requested the jail authorities to provide him with a separate toilet and allow meals from home. The jail authorities have reportedly turned down both requests, sources added.
Earlier, the Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) of Bihar police registered a disproportionate assets case against 13 persons, including Sanjeev Hans and Gulab Yadav.
The IAS officer has also been accused of abusing his official position and accepting illegal gratification during his posting in the state energy department.
Sources revealed that a non-FIR accused, Shadab Khan, has also been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. The probe agency has intensified raids to apprehend the remaining 10 named accused, with several individuals having political connections under surveillance.
Tender scam leads to ED raid
Sanjeev Hans has been made accused in connection with an alleged tender scam in the state energy department, where he served as principal secretary.
The 1997-batch IAS officer was transferred from the energy department to the general administration department in August after the ED conducted the first round of searches in this case. The money laundering case by the central probe agency is based on an FIR lodged by the Bihar police.
Sanjeev Hans and Gulab Yadav, a former RJD legislator from Jhanjharpur in Madhubani district, have also been accused of sexually exploiting a woman lawyer under the pretext of helping her secure a position on a government panel. The case filed by the woman advocate was later quashed by the Patna High Court in August.
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