With days remaining for Rajasthan Assembly elections, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted fresh raids in the state on Friday, including at the premises of senior IAS officials. As per official sources, the raids were related to the money laundering investigation into the alleged Jal Jivan Mission scam.
The raids were conducted at 25 premises in the state capital Jaipur and Dausa. Some other linked persons are also being covered under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources told PTI.
#WATCH | Enforcement Directorate searches underway at 25 locations across Rajasthan in the Jal Jeevan Mission case.
— ANI (@ANI) November 3, 2023
Visuals from the residence of IAS officer Subodh Agarwal and IRS officer Rolee Agarwal in Jaipur, where a search is ongoing. pic.twitter.com/5eFCVOYQED
According to the agency, the money laundering case stems from a Rajasthan anti-corruption bureau (ACB) FIR which alleged that Padamchand Jain, proprietor of Shree Shyam Tubewell Company, Mahesh Mittal, proprietor of Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company and others were involved in "giving bribes" to public servants in order to obtain illegal protection, obtaining tenders, getting bills sanctioned and covering up irregularities in respect of work executed by them in respect of various tenders received by them from the public health and engineering department (PHED).
"The suspects were also involved in the purchase of stolen goods from Haryana for using the same in their tenders/contracts and had also submitted fake work completion letters from IRCON to get PHED contracts," the agency had alleged in a statement issued earlier.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the central agencies were acting on the directions of the BJP-led government at the Centre to target the opposition. "You are seeing that ED raids are taking place in the country. Just like "tiddi dal" (locust swarm) comes from Pakistan, similarly "ED dal" is coming today," he told ANI.
He said the credibility of agencies like the CBI, ED, and Income Tax Department were diminishing. "They have made it a joke. I was reading an article today that said that the firepower of agencies like the CBI, ED and Income tax department is reducing," he alleged.
The ED has recently summoned the sons of Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra over money laundering charges in connection with an alleged paper leak last year. Before that, the agency had also carried out searches on the Jaipur and Sikar homes of Dotasra last week.
