RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), after an interrogation lasting over 15 hours, arrested Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal on Wednesday in a money-laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds.
Sources said her replies to the questions by ED sleuths were not satisfactory and evasive.
Chartered accountant Suman Kumar, an alleged associate of Singhal, was arrested three days back in connection with the case.
ED officials produced the senior IAS official before the special ED court of Prabhat Kumar Sharma, seeking a remand of 12 days. “We sought 12-day remand of Pooja Singhal, but the court granted only five days,” said ED counsel BMP Singh.
The arrested official will be sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail here on Wednesday night and taken on remand by the ED on Thursday, he added. The 2000-batch IAS officer has been arrested under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Sources in the state government said the process of suspending her has already started and a decision in this regard could be taken within next few hours. Chief Minister Hemant Soren said action will be taken against Singhal. “The state government will take legal action against her,” said Soren.
Singhal was officially arrested around 4.30 pm, an hour after her husband Abhishek Jha arrived at the office after being summoned by ED officials. According to the information provided to the court by the ED after arresting Suman Kumar, an amount of Rs 1.43 crore more than the known sources of her income was found in the bank accounts of Singhal while she was the deputy commissioner in Khunti, Palamu and Chatra. The ED also claimed that Singhal purchased as many as 13 insurance policies by paying a premium of Rs 80.81 lakh.