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IAS officer Rajiv Arun Ekka, who was previously principal secretary to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, has sought time to appear before Enforcement Directorate (ED) till the ongoing Jharkhand Assembly session ends.
The central agency said his request is under examination. The ED summoned Ekka to join its probe on March 15, in connection with a purported video in which the IAS officer is was seen signing documents at the premises of a person is under scanner in the case related to the arrest of IAS officer Pooja Singhal. Ekka, who also held additional charge of Principal Secretary, Home, was transferred as the Principal Secretary of the Panchayati Raj Department after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) levelled serious allegations against him. On Monday, the Jharkhand government constituted a one-member 'Commision of Inquiry' and appointed former chief justice Vinod Kumar Gupta to conduct an inquiry pertaining to the video involving Chief Minister Soren's then Principal Secretary Rajiv Arun Ekka. The video was shared widely on social media. Vishal Chaudhary, a builder whose premises are purportedly featured in the viral video has been under the ED scanner in a money-laundering probe against suspended Jharkhand mining secretary Pooja Singhal. Choudhary reportedly has close connections with top bureaucrats in the current government. His residence on road number six at Ashok Nagar was raided by ED officials. Singhal was the secretary of the Department of Mines and Geology and the Managing Director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Limited (JSMDC) and had served as the deputy commissioner of the state's Khunti district between 2009 and 2010. She was arrested by the ED on May 11 last year and suspended by the Jharkhand government on May 12. After her arrest, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi sent her to ED's remand. (ANI)
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