New Delhi: “Bhai, cell bahut achha hai (brother, the cellphone is very nice),” the IAS officer tells the Patna-based contractor who had gifted her an iPad and an iPhone a month earlier. In one other purported WhatsApp dialog, a second IAS officer makes an pressing request of the contractor—5 kg of mangoes; allegedly utilizing the phrase “mango” to ask for Rs 5 lakh in money. “Jee bhaiya (sure, brother),” the contractor responds.
In an affidavit submitted earlier than the Patna HC, which ThePrint has accessed, ED identifies the recipient of the iPhone as IAS officer Abhilasha Kumari Sharma, and the officer who requested for five kg of ‘mangoes’ as IAS officer Santosh Kumar Mall. Their benefactor has been recognized as Rishu Shree, a Patna-based contractor with alleged ties to high Bihar authorities officers, particularly in city improvement & housing division (UDHD).
The ED’s affidavit was filed within the final week of November.
Shree landed on the ED’s radar on account of its investigation into cash laundering prices towards now-suspended senior IAS officer Sanjeev Hans, as soon as a high civil servant within the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar authorities.
The company has alleged that Shree not solely exercised “undue affect over switch and posting of officers” but in addition “sponsored each home and international journeys of senior IAS officers” and their households. In line with the ED, in a single occasion, the contractor even allegedly paid a priest Rs 9.84 lakh for conducting a non secular ritual for the household of one of many IAS officers.
The IAS officers below scrutiny over ties to Shree embrace Abhilasha Kumari Sharma, Santosh Kumar Mall, Anand Kishor, Yogesh Sagar, Dharmendra Kumar and Sunil Kumar Yadav, amongst others. Their hyperlinks with Shree, the ED alleges, date again to their tenures with the UDHD and Bihar City Infrastructure Growth Company (BUIDCO).
The probe company made the revelations in courtroom to counter Shree’s writ petition looking for quashing of the ED proceedings towards him.
In a rejoinder to the ED’s affidavit, Shree’s counsels rebutted the company’s allegations with respect to his affiliation with every of those officers.
His counsels additional submitted that the “whole case of the ED is premised on conjectures and surmises of the ED itself quite than an entire appreciation of the fabric it seeks to rely on”. “The way wherein the ED has initiated, and is constant, the prosecution of the Petitioner below the PMLA reveals that the Impugned ECIR was registered solely to focus on and harass the Petitioner in somehow,” Shree’s counsels added.
The ED had raided Shree’s companies and premises in July final 12 months and January this 12 months. In line with the company, he admitted throughout questioning that he had paid commissions to senior authorities officers starting from 2 % to three.5 % of the whole billed quantity of tenders.
Primarily based on its findings, the ED’s Particular Vigilance Unit booked Shree, Hans, and unidentified authorities officers in April. The company opened an Enforcement Case Data Report (ECIR) primarily based on an FIR within the matter. It additionally wrote to the Bihar authorities looking for registration of an FIR towards a number of different IAS officers, together with Sagar and Sharma.
ThePrint despatched queries regarding the costs to the official electronic mail IDs of IAS officers Sunil Kumar Yadav and Abhilasha Kumari Sharma. Detailed queries have additionally been despatched to Anand Kishor, Yogesh Sagar and Dharmendra Kumar through WhatsApp and makes an attempt to observe up by means of cellphone calls had not yielded a response until the time of publication. ThePrint additionally despatched queries through WhatsApp to Asif Iqbal, officer on particular responsibility (OSD) to Santosh Kumar Mall, who cited time constraints for incapacity to reply.
Sagar served as managing director of BUIDCO from March 2024 until February this 12 months, later posted as joint secretary within the social welfare division. Kishor led BUIDCO briefly between November 2021 and January 2022 and was elevated to the submit of extra chief secretary final month. He additionally served as Principal Secretary within the UDHD.
Kumar was earlier transferred to West Champaran as District Justice of the Peace, whereas Sharma is at present extra CEO of Bihar authorities’s JEEVIKA initiative. Mall served as UDHD principal secretary and principal secretary within the state’s water sources division.
Yadav at present serves as a particular secretary within the state’s labour sources division.
The ED has claimed that Shree and his associates admitted of their statements that Yadav was transferred to UDHD with Shree’s assist.
Additionally Learn: Cash path in IAS Sanjeev Hans case leads ED to senior Bihar govt officers, huge stash of money
‘Journeys to Europe, fee for rituals’
In its affidavit, the ED alleged that Rishu Shree financed home and worldwide journey for a number of senior officers of the Bihar authorities, together with flights and lodging.
As an example, the company submitted that Saheel, an worker of Shree’s agency Dependable Group, paid Rs 1.20 lakh to Surat-based journey agent Lambuji Excursions for processing visa purposes of IAS officer Yogesh Sagar and his 5 relations. The company submitted that Sagar and his household departed from New Delhi on 22 June final 12 months and returned on 30 June from Austria, after staying in Vienna, Salzburg, and St Wolfgang.
“Investigation additional revealed that an quantity of Rs 4.27 lakh has been paid to Lambuji Excursions by means of banking channel from the account of Avlokita Ashok (spouse of Yogesh Kumar Sagar) and relaxation quantity of Rs 17.65 lakh has been paid to M/s Lambuji Excursions in money by Mr Saheel Sinha, an affiliate of Rishu Shree and Jainam Engicon Pvt Ltd,” the ED submitted.
It additional alleged that Jainam Engicon—a Gujarat-based agency of Shree’s enterprise affiliate Brijesh Narola—was faraway from BUIDCO’s blacklist on 16 Could final 12 months, a month earlier than Sagar launched into the international journey along with his household.
“Proof signifies that the journey bills had been collectively borne by Rishu Shree and M/s Jainam Engicon Non-public Restricted (entity managed by Brijesh Narola). The proximity in timing between the revocation of the debarment and the international journey, coupled with the funding of the journey by events, strongly confirms Rishu Shree’s affect within the decision-making processes inside BUIDCO by means of extending pecuniary advantages to its senior official,” the company alleged in its affidavit.
“It’s pertinent to say that M/S Jainam Constructions was awarded the undertaking of Chapra Storm Water Drainage throughout the tenure of Shri Yogesh Kumar Sagar as MD, BUIDCO,” it added.
The company additional alleged that Sagar had invoices issued within the names of his relations to hide precise bills incurred on the international journey. It additionally claimed to have discovered, after searches on the premises of Patna-based journey agent Tinish Kumar of the Shanvi Company, prices amounting to Rs 10 lakh on a number of home tour bookings made by Sagar.
Via the identical journey agent, the company alleged, Shree financed Rs 13 lakh of Abhilasha Kumari Sharma’s household bills. Sharma additionally allegedly acquired Rs 3 lakh from Shree into her aunt’s checking account, the ED stated, citing WhatsApp conversations and a duplicate of the financial institution passbook.
In line with the ED, Shree additionally made a fee of Rs 9.84 lakh to a priest, Inderjeet Sharma, to hold out non secular rituals for Sharma’s household. Moreover, Shree gifted her a Mont Blanc pen, an Apple iPad and an iPhone. The ED hooked up footage of the gadgets, together with WhatsApp chats, to help the allegations.
Concerning a international journey of IAS officer Dharmendra Kumar and his spouse, the ED said that Shree organized $10,000 in equal funds for the journey whereas Kumar and his spouse had been touring Europe between 16 July and 26 July final 12 months. It hooked up an extract from a purported WhatsApp dialog between Shree and Sharma wherein they mentioned Kumar’s journey.
Equally, the ED hooked up an excerpt of a purported dialog between Mall and Shree, wherein the previous urgently requests 5 kg of mangoes, allegedly utilizing the phrase “mango” to safe 5 lakh money. “Jee bhaiya (sure, brother),” was Shree’s response to the demand.
“Investigation has revealed that Rishu Shree maintained shut and influential relations with the then Principal Secretaries of the City Growth and Housing Division (UDHD), specifically Anand Kishor and Santosh Kumar Mall. Statements recorded below Part 50 of the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA), corroborated by forensically extracted WhatsApp chats, set up that Rishu Shree, by means of Anand Kishor, exercised undue affect over switch and posting of officers inside the Bihar authorities,” the ED submitted earlier than the courtroom.
“Additional investigation has additionally dropped at gentle that Rishu Shree, who had direct entry to and affect over officers supervising the implementation of the Namami Gange Mission, sponsored each home and international journeys of senior IAS officers, notably Yogesh Sagar and Amarendra Kumar Singh, throughout their tenure as Managing Administrators of BUIDCO,” it added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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