Jharkhand govt suspends mining secretary Pooja Singhal arrested in money laundering case

Image Credit: ANI

Ranchi: The Jharkhand government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday suspended mining secretary Pooja Singhal, a day after she was arrested in connection with a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

News agency ANI confirmed that Jharkhand Govt has suspended mining secretary Pooja Singhal after her arrest in the money laundering case.

Jharkhand govt suspended State Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal in connection with an alleged money laundering case — ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2022

A special PMLA court in Ranchi had on Wednesday sent Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal to five-day remand of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds and other charges.

Singhal was earlier arrested by ED. Before that, Singhal was summoned for questioning. Notably, she was questioned for around nine hours on Monday also.

Following the arrest of Singhal, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said, "All possible legal actions will be taken by the state government on this issue."

This is the second arrest in this case as Chartered Accountant Suman Kumar is already arrested by ED on May 7. 

ED recovered Rs 17.51 crore from the premises of Kumar and Rs 1.8 crore from pulse Hospital. Singhal was arrested after ED got credible evidence of her connection with CA Suman Kumar.

Earlier this month, ED conducted raids at Pulse Hospital, Ranchi. The hospital is owned by Abhishek Jha, husband of Pooja Singhal, Secretary, Mines and Geology, in Jharkhand.

Senior advocate of Jharkhand High Court, Rajeev Kumar, submitted a complaint against her to the ED in February 2022. Earlier on Sunday, the ED interrogated Abhishek Jha, husband of Pooja Singhal, IAS, in connection with searches at Pulse Hospital.

Pooja Singhal is the secretary of the Department of Mines and Geology and the Managing Director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Limited (JSMDC).