DEHRADUN: Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat resigned from two Congress positions on Friday after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it had recovered unaccounted cash, gold and luxury watches from the residence of his former officer on special duty (OSD), Chandan Singh Jeena.
The recoveries were made during searches conducted on Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with alleged irregularities in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission’s (UKSSSC) 2016 Village Panchayat Development Officer examination.
According to the ED, searches were carried out at several premises in Dehradun linked to the then UKSSSC chairman, secretary and examination controller, as well as the owner of a private computer agency and others associated with the case.
The agency claimed that Rs 32 lakh in unaccounted cash was recovered from Jeena’s current residence. Officials also found about 200.5 grams of gold in the form of coins and chains, besides 12 luxury watches made by brands including Rolex, Rado, Piaget, Movado and Tissot.
Bank accounts held by Jeena and members of his family, containing nearly Rs 52.16 lakh, have been frozen under Section 17(1A) of the PMLA, the agency said. His mobile phone was also seized and sent for forensic examination.
The total value of the seized and frozen assets is estimated at Rs 1.28 crore, excluding the value of the luxury watches, according to the ED.
The money-laundering investigation stems from allegations that optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets used in the 2016 examination were tampered with while in official custody. Investigators suspect that some sheets were taken to the private residence of a senior official and handed over to employees of the computer agency.
The employees allegedly filled in unanswered bubbles on selected OMR sheets before resealing them. The ED said there were indications that illegal payments had been accepted in return for manipulating examination results. The roles of former commission officials and private agency employees remain under investigation.
The agency also searched premises linked to Rawat. Its statement noted that Jeena had served as an OSD during Rawat’s tenure as chief minister between 2014 and 2017. However, the ED has not named Rawat as an accused in the case.
Responding to the developments, Rawat told TNIE: “If there is evidence that he tampered with OMR sheets in the village development officer recruitment, I am ashamed of such an act. However, I do not believe the allegation.”
Alleging that the searches were intended to build a political narrative against him and the Congress ahead of elections, Rawat resigned as a member of the Uttarakhand Congress executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee.
“The party’s fight against corruption should not be weakened because of me,” he said, apologising for any “error of judgement” in making the appointments.