Jharkhand Govt Suspends IAS Officer Chhavi Ranjan After His Arrest In Land Scam Case

Jharkhand IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan has been suspended by the state government after his arrest in a land scam case by the Enforcement Directorate.

IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan being taken by ED officials to a Special PMLA court in Ranchi after he was arrested in a money laundering case.

Source : PTI

Jharkhand government has suspended IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged illegal land deals case, reported PTI. The agency said citing officials that suspension came into effect Saturday (May 6). The state government issues a notification on Saturday evening giving the suspension orders. As per PTI, the bureaucrat was arrested by ED and produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, which remanded him to six days of ED custody. 

"Chhavi Ranjan, Director, Social Welfare, Jharkhand is suspended with immediate effect after his arrest by Enforcement Directorate, regional office under section 19 of the PMLA Act, 2002," the notification issued by the state government said, as quoted by PTI. 

It added that Ranjan was suspended "under the provisions of All India Services (Discipline and Appeal Rules) 1969.” The 2011-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre was arrested late on Thursday and taken into ED custody after he was interrogated for around 10 hours. 

The special PMLA court had on Friday sent Ranjan to Birsa Munda Central Jail, Hotwar. Officials informed PTI that the agency had sought 10-day custody to question the former Ranchi deputy commissioner. 

Ranjan's lawyer Abhishek Krishna Gupta said he will again be produced in court on May 12. 

The investigating officer of the case has also recorded a statement of Ranjan under the provisions of PMLA. 

Earlier, the ED had questioned Ranjan on April 13 and on April 24, when searches were carried out at his premises and those of some others in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. 

According to a PTI report, the central agency is investigating more than a dozen land deals, including one related to defence land, wherein a group of mafias, middlemen and bureaucrats allegedly "connived" in forging deeds and documents from as early as 1932.