Jaipur: The central investigation agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted multi-city searches in Rajasthan in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Centre's 'Jal Jeevan Mission' in the state.
After the question paper leak case of Rajsamand Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) and cash and gold recovery from a locked almirah of a government office in Jaipur, this is the third case that the central probe agency has taken up in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan.
Around a dozen premises belonging to engineers, contractors, and some former state government officials in Jaipur, Alwar, and a few other cities were searched by ED teams.
As per the official sources, the searches were conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Incriminating documents, gadgets recovered
Some documents and gadgets have been recovered from these premises.
Earlier the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajasthan had arrested two officials and some middlemen in the alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission and the money laundering case is understood to have stemmed from the FIR registered by ACB.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena had in June alleged a scam of ₹20,000 crore in the implementation of the 'Jal Jeevan Mission' in Rajasthan.
He had alleged that tenders worth ₹900 crore were issued to two firms based on fake experience certificates in 48 projects of the scheme.
"A scam of ₹20,000 crore was committed under the Centre's Jal Jeevan Mission. This was done together by the PHED minister and the department secretary," Meena had alleged.
In the meantime, the election in charge of BJP Rajasthan Prahlad Joshi has alleged that there is direct involvement of ministers and MLAs in this corruption, when corruption has taken place then action has to be taken.
While the Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra said that these raids are being conducted to harass the state government, we are farmers and not scared of such actions.
