The Directorate of Enforcement has conducted follow-up search operations at 8 locations in Jaipur and Banswara districts of Rajasthan under the Provisions of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the Jal Jeevan Mission Scam, an official statement issued on Wednesday said.

The searches have been conducted on the residential premises of Mahesh Joshi, ex-Minister, PHED, Government of Rajasthan, and officials of PHED, in addition to private individuals, it said.

The official press release further stated that ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by the ACB, Rajasthan, against Padamchand Jain (Shree Shyam Tubewell Company), Mahesh Mittal ( Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company) and others, including PHED officials.

Another FIR was also registered by the Rajasthan Police and Bajaj Nagar Police Station under various sections of the IPC based on a complaint alleging the “use of fake and fabricated work experience certificates by one of the suspected firms.”

“The 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 middlemen and property dealers have aided the PHED officials in syphoning off the illegally earned money from the JJM scam. It has been gathered that certain properties were procured using money generated from criminal activity,” the release further said.

“During the search operations, a total of Rs 39 lakh in unaccounted cash along with various incriminating documents, including property details, digital evidence, mobiles, etc., have been seized. The total seizure in this case to date is Rs 11.42 crore, including gold OR silver worth Rs 6.50 crore,” it further said.

Further investigation is in progress, it said. (ANI)