ACB raids Niranjan Kumar's office in Ranchi

The ACB sleuths conducted a raid at the office of Niranjan Kumar. It was following the orders of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Anti Corruption Bureau launched a preliminary enquiry against Niranjan Kumar for alleged irregularities of Rs 170 crore.

Ranchi: The Anti Corruption Bureau police in Jharkhand's Ranchi, conducted a raid at the office of Niranjan Kumar, an officer of Indian Post and TC Accountancy and Finance Service, on Sunday.

Following the orders of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Anti Corruption Bureau launched a preliminary enquiry against Niranjan Kumar on Thursday. The PE was ordered against Niranjan Kumar for irregularities of Rs 170 crore. The raids started around 11 am and continued till evening. The office was cordoned off and the records were checked.

According to ACB, Niranjan Kumar is accused of using his old acquaintances to become the director of JUSNL and JREDA, even after not fulfilling any technical qualification, he continued to hold office.

Niranjan Kumar is also accused of illegally withdrawing his salary while in office, as well as paying Rs 170 crore in the accounts of various banks. At the same time, despite being in a government post, he never gave any information about the assets acquired by his wife, ACB sources said.

An officer from ACB said, "We have conducted raids on several locations in the early hours and the operation is still on. We have seized some documents. The exact details of the outcome of the raids can be provided only after the search."

"We are verifying the documents available in the office of the accused. However, the documents available are being verified and the accused person is being interrogated," the officer added.

Earlier, the Anti Corruption Bureau had also asked the government for an investigation against Niranjan Kumar but the previous government did not allow ACB for the investigation, an official said.

In such a situation, the Anti Corruption Bureau has registered a PE and also got permission to investigate against Niranjan Kumar. Based on the investigation report, an FIR will be registered after two weeks, an official added.