Suspended IAS officer Singhal was arrested by the probe agency on May 12 in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds in Khunti district of Jharkhand.
A local court on Friday extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal by five more days, news agency ANI reported.
“Suman Kumar & Pooja Singhal were produced before court today. ED urged that Suman Kumar be sent to judicial custody, court accepted it & sent him to jail. ED sought the remand of Pooja Singhal for 6 more days, court sent her to a 5-day ED remand,” ED lawyer BMP Singh said.
The court on May 16 had sent the IAS officer and her chartered accountant Suman Kumar to four day ED custody.
Singhal was arrested by the probe agency on May 12 in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds in Khunti district of Jharkhand. She was arrested following raids by the ED across several locations in four states. The agency had reportedly recovered ₹17 crore from the residence of her chartered accountant Suman Kumar.
The ED is investigating a money laundering case in which a former junior engineer of the Jharkhand government was arrested two years ago. Ram Binod Prasad Sinha was booked under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on the FIRs registered by the state government.
It is alleged that the funds earmarked for the completion of government projects under MGNREGA was embezzled. Singhal had served as the deputy commissioner of Khunti between 2009 and 2010. News agency PTI quoted the arrested engineer who claimed to have paid five per cent commission out of the embezzled funds to the Khunti district administration.
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