RANCHI: Days after the Election Commission served show cause notice on chief minister Hemant Soren and his brother Basant Soren, facing disqualification for leasing mines, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at a dozen premises in Ranchi and various states and seized Rs 19.31 crore in cash.
The raids were carried out at residences and offices of mines secretary Pooja Singhal, her relatives and close associates in Ranchi and several other states in connection with the nearly Rs 18 crore MGNREGA fund scam and money laundering when she was the deputy commissioner of Khunti district between 2008 and 2011.
Though ED did not comment on its operations, sources in the agency said raids were also conducted in Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan and the National Capital Region in this connection.
Earlier in June 2020, ED had arrested a junior engineer, Ram Binod Sinha, against whom 16 cases were registered by the state anti-corruption bureau in connection with the scam. He was later arrested from West Bengal.
