ED arrests Jharkhand IAS officer in land deal case
ED on Thursday arrested Jharkhand IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, after around 11 hours of questioning in connection with its money laundering probe related to alleged illegal land deals.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested Jharkhand IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, after around 11 hours of questioning in connection with its money laundering probe related to alleged illegal land deals, an official familiar with the matter said. Ranjan is currently the director of the state’s Social Welfare Department.
The 2011-batch officer of Jharkhand cadre reached the ED office in Ranchi around 11am, and was “formally arrested at 9.55pm”, said a senior ED official who didn’t wish to be named. “He will be produced before PMLA court on Friday,” the official added.
The ED had earlier questioned Ranjan for about 10 hours on April 24 in connection with its money laundering probe related to the fraudulent sale of around 4.5 acres of army land in the heart of the state capital.
Ranjan was deputy commissioner of Ranchi when these land deals were allegedly processed, people familiar with the matter said. He held the post of DC from July 15, 2020 to July 11 2022.
This is the second case in which a Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer has come under the ED scanner. In May last year, the federal agency arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal in a money laundering case.
