Patna: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted simultaneous raids on Thursday at the residences of eight state govt officials, including a chief engineer, several executive engineers and four Bihar Administrative Service officers, in connection with a tender scam and disproportionate assets. According to unconfirmed sources, over Rs 3 crore in cash was recovered from the Patna residence of Tarini Das, chief engineer (north) of the building construction department, alone. The sheer volume of cash forced ED officials to deploy machines to count the notes. However, officials said the counting was still on and the exact amount was yet to be ascertained. Sources said the investigation was linked to tainted IAS officer Sanjeev Hans. While probing Hans’s case, the ED, according to sources, uncovered irregularities in the tendering process within the building construction department, urban development and housing department and BUIDCO. A team reached Das’s residence in Purnendu Nagar, Phulwarisharif, Patna, at 4am and conducted an extensive search. Along with cash, the team seized documents related to land investments, papers linked to the tender scam, several bank passbooks and digital devices. It is alleged that Das and his associates facilitated tenders for contractors in exchange for huge bribes. Although Das retired in Oct last year, he was reinstated for two years by the state cabinet. The ED had been closely monitoring corruption cases, sources said. Following the discovery of substantial evidence of large-scale corruption across several govt departments, the agency registered a money laundering case, leading to Thursday’s raids. In addition to the building construction department’s chief engineer, raids were conducted at the residences of a former municipal commissioner-level officer from the Bihar Administrative Service, a financial officer at BUIDCO and other officials from the urban development and housing department. The ED has not disclosed the names of the other officials involved. The raids triggered a debate in the Bihar assembly. Criticising the govt, RJD MLA Rakesh Roshan said, “This is an example of corruption in the Bihar govt. We have been saying from the beginning that there is no control over corruption in the Nitish-led govt.” Defending the NDA govt, revenue and land reforms minister Sanjay Saraogi said, “If anyone in our govt has done anything wrong, he will not be spared under any circumstances. Strict action will be taken against them under our zero-tolerance policy.”
