Jharkhand: Senior IAS officer reaches ED office to join probe in viral video case

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], March 27 : Senior IAS and former Principal Secretary to CM Hemant Soren, Rajiv Arun Ekka reached Enforcement Directorate's zonal office in Ranchi to join the probe in a viral video case on Monday, said an official.
The development came after BJP leader Babulal Marandi released a video featuring Rajiv Arun Ekka, where he is seen signing a file, allegedly at a private office owned by one Vishal Chaudhary, who is already under the scanner of the agency in connection with the Pooja Singhal money laundering case.
After the video surfaced, ED summoned Rajiv Arun and asked him to appear before the agency on March 15. He didn't turn up on March 15, and sought time till the Jharkhand Assembly Budget Session. On the second summon, he appeared on March 27.
Ekka, who also held additional charge of the home, prisons and disaster management and information and public relations, besides being principal secretary to the chief minister, was transferred to the Panchayati Raj department within hours after the BJP released the video levelling serious allegations against him.
Taking cognisance of the incident, the state government has also constituted the one-member commission of inquiry headed by former high court chief justice Vinod Kumar Gupta, with a mandate of submitting its finding report in six months.
In May last year, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds and other charges.