In accordance with the provisions of the Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) carried out follow-up search operations on January 16, 2024, at eight locations in the districts of Jaipur and Banswara, Rajasthan, in relation to the Jal Jeevan Mission Scam. The residences of Mahesh Joshi, the former minister of the Punjab Health Department, the Rajasthani government, and PHED personnel, in addition to private citizens, have all been searched.
Based on an FIR against Padamchand Jain (Proprietor: M/s. Shree Shyam Tubewell Company), Mahesh Mittal (Proprietor: M/s. Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company), and other individuals, including PHED officers, filed by the ACB, Rajasthan, the ED began an investigation. A second formal complaint was filed with the Rajasthan Police, Bajaj Nagar Police Station under different sections of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint said that one of the suspected businesses had used a forged and counterfeit work experience certificate.
According to an ED probe, the aforementioned contractors were implicated in bribing top PHED officials and using alleged phony job completion certificates from M/s Indian Railway Construction International Limited (IRCON) to get contracts for Jal Jeevan Mission operations. The PHED officers received assistance from a number of middlemen and real estate brokers in diverting the funds obtained via deception from the JJM scheme. It has come to light that some homes were purchased with proceeds from illicit activities.
A total of Rs. 39 lakh in unaccounted cash was found during the search operations, along with a number of other damning papers, including information on the property, digital proof, mobile phones, etc. The total amount seized in this case so far is Rs. 11.42 Crore, which includes Rs. 6.50 Crore worth of gold and silver. Additional research is currently being conducted.
