The Enforcement Directorate on Friday detained Prem Prakash in connection with the money laundering case involving suspended mining secretary Pooja Singhal. In the afternoon the ED carried out raids at multiple locations in Ranchi, Patna, and Sasaram in Bihar and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, all related to Prem Prakash.
In Ranchi, his houses at Harmu and Argora Bypass were raided by the ED officials. A large number of CRPF personnel were deployed during the raid. But neither Prem Prakash nor any family member was present. In the presence of a magistrate, his flat at Vasundhara apartment at Argora Bypass was opened. In the meantime, the ED started looking for Prem Prakash. Sources said that the ED officials detained him from a place outside of Ranchi. He was first taken to the ED office where he was questioned at length. Later on, he was taken to his Harmu residence. Till the time the report was filed raids were going on. Sources said he was seen in Jamshedpur in the morning.
Prem Prakash enjoys good relations with many bureaucrats as well as politicians. He is accused of having parked unaccounted money of several politicians and bureaucrats in the shell companies. Notably, on Tuesday, the ED raided the premises of Vishal Choudhary and Nishit Keshri who are linked to several IAS officials. Prior to this, the ED had questioned former JMM treasurer Ravi Kejriwal who is accused of running shell companies.
Prem Prakash is seen as a man who was active during the previous BJP government of Raghubar Das. His name surfaced during the interrogation of the accused and some suspects. Besides, documents and evidence collected during raids have hinted at his role in money laundering. He is a respondent in the PIL 4290/2021 filed by Shiv Shankar Sharma in the matter related to shell companies.
Meanwhile, suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal was today produced before the special PMLA court as her remand period ended today. She was sent to judicial custody till June 8. The ED requested the court to allow it to interrogate Singhal in jail, to which the court gave its permission. Singhal will remain in jail like normal inmates and will be taken care of by prison doctors.
