Weeks after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered Rs 2.5 crore in cash and a kg of gold from the residences of two officers of the Rajasthan government in connection with the multi-crore Jal Jeevan Mission scam, the central agency conducted searches in the bank lockers of the accused officers and seized 9.5 kg of gold worth Rs 5.86 crore on Tuesday, a top ED officer told News18.
According to the search documents, the ED has recovered 8 kg gold from a locker of a PNB branch (ML Road) in Jaipur. The locker is registered in the name of a senior serving officer of Rajasthan government, allegedly close to the senior bureaucrats and some ministers.
In another search operation, the ED officers recovered 1.5 kg gold from the locker of a retired Rajasthan Service Officer. This particular locker was in a PNB branch located at Shastri Nagar, Jaipur.
Senior sources in the ED said that the central agency is likely to summon some senior ministers and bureaucrats in connection with the scam as the money trail reaches them. The officers are now probing into the offshore connections of these politicians and bureaucrats.
With the ED expanding the scope of investigation into the scam, the scam is likely to be one of the major focal points of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign in Rajasthan in the run-up to the assembly elections.
News 18 had earlier reported about the two companies — Ganapati Tubewell Company and Shri Shyam Tubewell Company — owned by two related businessmen, who bagged the contract by producing fake experience certificates. The businessmen are allegedly “close” to some ministers in the Rajasthan state cabinet, including Mahesh Joshi, state’s minister, PHED (ground water) and some senior bureaucrats, added as senior ED officer. News18 had reached out to Joshi, who said that he would present relevant documents before the ED as and when summoned.
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