New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS): Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that after searches at 26 locations in Rajasthan in connection with the alleged Jal Jeevan Mission scam case, it has seized amount worth Rs 2.21 crore, including unaccounted cash of Rs 48 lakh and Bank balance Rs 1.73 crore.

The ED teams conducted searches on the official and residential premises of senior PHED officials including Subodh Agarwal, ACS (PHED) in addition to private individuals.

The ED case is based on the FIR registered by the ACB Rajasthan against Padamchand Jain Proprietor of Shree Shyam Tubewell Company, Mahesh Mittal Proprietor of Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company and others including PHED officials.

It said that another FIR was also registered by the Rajasthan Police, Bajaj Nagar Police station under various sections of IPC on the basis of complaint alleging therein use of fake and fabricated work experience certificate by one of the suspected firms.

“ED investigation revealed that the said contractors were involved in securing tenders pertaining to Jal Jeevan Mission works based on purported fake work completion certificates issued by Indian Railway Construction International Limited (IRCON) and by bribing senior PHED officials. Several middle men and property dealers have aided the PHED officials in siphoning off the illegally earned money from the JJM scam,” the ED said in a statement.

“During the search operations, a total of Rs 2.21 crore including unaccounted cash of Rs 48 lakh and bank balance Rs 1.73 crore, various incriminating documents including property documents, digital evidences, hard disks, mobiles etc. have been frozen and seized which reveal suspicious transactions involved in associated persons,” the ED said.

Till date total seizure in this case is Rs 11.03 crore, including gold or silver worth Rs 6.50 crore.