New Delhi/Dehradun, Sep 11 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it raided a personal assistant of former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in a 2016 exam conducted by the state service selection commission.
Cash worth Rs 32 lakh and a dozen luxury wristwatches were seized from the premises of Chandan Singh Jeena during the raids undertaken on Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.
Jeena is currently serving as a personal assistant (PA) to Rawat and had earlier served as officer on special duty (OSD) during the Congress leader’s tenure as chief minister during 2014-17.
The ED said the raids were undertaken at multiple locations in Dehradun, including those belonging to the former chairman, secretary and exam controller of the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC), the owner of a private computer agency engaged for processing of OMR sheets and some alleged middlemen.
There was no immediate response from Jeena or Rawat.
The ED’s case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) stems from four Uttarakhand Police and Vigilance Bureau FIRs registered in connection with alleged irregularities in the Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari Exam conducted by the UKSSSC in 2016.
The agency claimed that the OMR answer sheets were “diverted” from the UKSSSC’s secure custody to the private residence of its then secretary. At the secretary’s residence, roll numbers on under-filled OMR sheets were noted down and handed over to private computer-agency personnel to fraudulently fill and alter answer bubbles before resealing, in exchange for illegal gratification routed through middlemen.
According to the agency, the search of the residential premises of Jeena led to the recovery of unaccounted cash worth Rs 32 lakh, gold coins and chains weighing about 200.5 grams and 12 luxury wristwatches of various luxury brands like Rolex, Rado, Piaget, Movado, Tissot and Casio Edifice.
The ED said bank accounts of Jeena and his family members, holding funds worth Rs 52.16 lakh, were frozen and his mobile phone was seized for forensic analysis.
“During the investigation, it was found that he has made huge expenses in cash also, with no explained source. The recovery, along with the cash expenses, is not substantiated with his known sources of income,” the ED alleged.
Unaccounted cash was also recovered from former UKSSSC officials and associated persons, along with gold jewellery, in certain cases, it said. PTI NES DIV DIV
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.