Middlemen 'aided' officials to siphon off funds of Jal Jeevan Mission scheme in Rajasthan: Enforcement Directorate

 The federal agency had conducted fresh searches in this case on November 3 at 26 locations in the poll-bound state

PTI, New Delhi, 04.11.23 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a statement on Saturday claimed several middlemen and property dealers "aided" Rajasthan government's PHE department officials to siphon off "illegally earned" money from the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme.

The federal agency had conducted fresh searches in this case on Friday at 26 locations in the poll-bound state. The first round of raids were undertaken in September.

Locations in Jaipur and Dausa, including residential and official premises of senior Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) officials, IAS officer and Additional Chief Secretary Subodh Agarwal, apart from private individuals were covered during the fresh searches.

"Unaccounted" cash of Rs 48 lakh and bank deposits worth Rs 1.73 crore, incriminating documents including property documents, digital evidences, hard disks, mobiles etc have been frozen or seized during the searches, the ED said in a statement.

The probe found that contractors were involved in securing tenders pertaining to the Jal Jeevan Mission works, based on purported "fake" work completion certificates issued by the Indian Railway Construction International Limited (IRCON) and by "bribing" senior PHED officials, it alleged.

"Several middlemen and property dealers have aided the PHED officials in siphoning off the illegally earned money from the JJM scam," the ED said.

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 leaders and Congress-led governments.

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, tenders, getting bills sanctioned and covering up irregularities. The Jal Jeevan Mission scheme 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.