Twitter image of the Enforcement Directorate.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 19 conducted raids at more than one dozen places in Patna, Delhi and Haryana (Panchkula) linked to S.P. Singla Construction company responsible for undertaking several projects in Bihar.
Sources in the ED said the searches were a follow-up action against Bihar IAS officer Sanjeev Hans and former MLA Gulab Yadav in a money laundering case.
Earlier, the ED has conducted raids in Patna, Madhubani, Pune, Delhi and Chandigarh on July 16 and 17 at multiple locations linked to Mr. Hans, who is currently serving as a Principal Secretary of the Energy department. The ED had visited Mr. Hans’ office at Vidyut Bhavan and also his residence located at the electricity board colony in the Shastrinagar area of Patna.
On July 19, the ED officials searched the Ganga Project office of S.P. Singla at Boring Road, Patna. The ED team scrutinised the documents at several locations of its offices.
Mr. Hans had also served as the Managing Director of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited (BRPNNL) way back in 2013 and several projects were awarded to the construction company during his tenure.
Immovable properties
The ED sources said Mr. Hans had allegedly generated huge amounts of money through awarding the tender and had purchased several immovable properties and Mr. Yadav’s role could not be denied being his close associate.
In the previous raid, the ED had seized 15 watches, including luxury watches like Rado and Rolex, apart from gold jewellery around 1,100 gram from the premises of Mr. Hans and incriminating documents containing details of payments for corruption.
SP Singla Construction Company is working on many projects, including the construction of the Aguwani bridge in Sultanganj, Bhagalpur, Bihar. This company was in the limelight after a part of the under-construction bridge collapsed at Aguwani Ghat. There was a lot of uproar over this incident and serious allegations were also made against SP Singla Company, which is constructing the Aguwani bridge.
The four-lane bridge being constructed at a cost of ₹1,716 crore over the Ganga in Bhagalpur district had collapsed in June 2023 and it was for the second time the bridge had collapsed during construction.
On the basis of a complaint received and the FIR No. 18/2023 dated 09.01.2023 of the Rupaspur police station, Patna, the ED initiated investigation against Mr. Hans and Mr. Yadav and their associates in respect of sexual exploitation of a woman lawyer and for their indulgence in corruption and other activities related with the offence of money laundering.
