ED raids 25 locations in poll-bound Rajasthan in money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted fresh searches in poll-bound Rajasthan, including at the premises of a senior IAS officer, as part of its money laundering investigation into the alleged Jal Jivan Mission scam, official sources said.

A total of 25 premises in the state capital Jaipur, and Dausa, including that of ACS in the PHE department, Subodh Agarwal, are being covered, they said.

Some other linked persons are also being covered under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

The central agency had carried out similar raids in this case in September.

The state will vote for its 200-member Assembly on November 25 and counting of votes will take place on December 3 along with four other states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Telangana.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has alleged that the central agencies were acting on the directions of the BJP-led government at the Centre to target the opposition.

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.

The Jal Jeevan mission launched by the Union government aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through household tap connections and it was being implemented by the state PHED in Rajasthan.

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