The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday summoned senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Rajiv Arun Ekka, who was recently removed as principal secretary to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, to appear before the federal agency for questioning on Wednesday, people aware of the development said on Tuesday.
“He (Ekka) has been requested to appear before the agency at its zonal office in Ranchi on Wednesday,” said an official who did not want to be named.
The development comes a week after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Babulal Marandi released a 22-second 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 scanner of the federal agency.
Premises related to Chaudhary, a businessman, were raised by ED soon after arrest of IAS officer Pooja Singhal, whose role in alleged irregularities in the state’s mining sector and the alleged MNREGA scam is being probed by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A BJP delegation had also visited the ED office last week and submitted the video clip demanding a probe in the incident. It was however not clear whether Ekka has been summoned in connection with the ongoing probe against Singhal, or a fresh Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) has been recorded by the agency related to the video.
Even as the federal agency is preparing to question the senior IAS officer, the Hemant Soren government has also initiated a commission of inquiry headed by a former Jharkhand high court chief justice in the entire controversy.
Ekka, who also held additional charge of home, prisons & disaster management and information & public relations, besides being principal secretary to the chief minister, was transferred to panchayati raj department within hours after the BJP released the video.
Taking cognisance of the incident, the state government has instituted 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.
The order issued by the personnel department on Monday said the inquiry was being instituted as the government considers the issue to be of ‘public importance, necessitating a thorough, independent and impartial inquiry’.
