Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat resigned from key Congress posts a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the premises of his personal assistant as part of a money laundering investigation.
Rawat stepped down as a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee. The senior Congress leader said he decided to step aside to ensure that the controversy did not weaken the party’s fight against corruption.
The ED investigation is linked to alleged irregularities in an examination conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) in 2016. In a statement, the agency said it seized Rs 32 lakh in cash and 12 luxury wristwatches during searches conducted on Thursday at multiple locations.
The searches included premises linked to Chandan Singh Jeena, who is currently serving as Rawat’s personal assistant and had earlier worked as an officer on special duty (OSD) during Rawat’s tenure as chief minister from 2014 to 2017.
The ED conducted searches at several locations in Dehradun, including premises linked to the former chairman, secretary and examination controller of the UKSSSC, as well as the owner of a private computer agency engaged in processing OMR answer sheets and alleged middlemen.
According to the agency, OMR answer sheets were allegedly “diverted” from the UKSSSC’s secure custody to the private residence of its then secretary.
At the secretary’s residence, the roll numbers on under-filled OMR sheets were allegedly noted down and passed on to personnel of a private computer agency. The agency alleged that the personnel then fraudulently filled in or altered answer bubbles before the sheets were resealed, in return for illegal gratification allegedly routed through middlemen.
