Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Dehradun on Saturday in connection with its money-laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the 2016 Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari (VPDO) recruitment examination conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC).
The watches included brands such as Rolex, Rado, Piaget, Movado, Tissot and Casio Edifice. The agency had maintained that its investigation was continuing and that further arrests or attachment of assets could not be ruled out. He acknowledged that Jeena had served as his officer on special duty (OSD) and had handled significant responsibilities during the various positions Rawat held in the party and government.
The development comes days after the ED’s Dehradun Sub-Zonal Office conducted searches on September 10 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the 2016 UKSSSC VPDO examination case. At Jeena’s residence, the ED said it recovered ₹ 32 lakh in unaccounted cash, 200.5 grams of gold comprising 13 gold coins and seven gold chains, and 12 luxury wristwatches. The agency also froze bank accounts belonging to Jeena and his family members, with aggregate credit balances of ₹ 52.16 lakh, and seized mobile phones for forensic examination. The ED said the total value of assets seized and frozen directly at Jeena’s residence was estimated at ₹ 1.28 crore. On the large quantity of cash, jewellery and other items seized from his former aide in Dehradun, Harish Rawat had said on September 12 that the facts would emerge in due course.
A close aide of Rawat said the ED had sent him a notice two days earlier seeking documents related to his properties, bank accounts and residence. I have not called anyone and I have not even told anyone. I have come alone with my mother…”, he said. The agency said the searches were conducted at multiple locations in Dehradun, including the residence of Chandan Singh Jeena, Rawat’s personal assistant. The money-laundering investigation stems from an FIR registered at the Vigilance police station in Dehradun and three subsequent FIRs related to recruitment irregularities, according to the ED. Rawat described Jeena as an “extremely decent, humble and hardworking individual” but said that if there had been any tampering with OMR sheets during the recruitment of Gram Sevaks, or if Jeena had committed any such wrongdoing and there was evidence to establish it, he would be ashamed of the alleged act. He, however, said he did not believe the allegation.
“Remembering my mother, Mother Jagadamba and Mother Earth, I have reached the ED office today with the blessings of Mother.
