Ranchi, March 27 (IANS) The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Ranchi Zonal Office, has provisionally attached additional immovable property belonging to Ramapati Devi, wife of Aditya Narayan Singh, in connection with the ongoing money laundering investigation linked to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.
The attached asset includes a two-story house along with its appurtenant land, valued at Rs 1.42 crore. The attachment was carried out on March 25 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED launched its investigation based on FIRs registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Jharkhand, and other law enforcement agencies.
The case pertains to the alleged embezzlement of Rs 6.97 crore from NRHM funds, orchestrated by Pramod Kumar Singh, who was then serving as the Block Account Manager.
According to ED’s findings, Singh conspired with Dr Shashi Bhushan Prasad, the then Medical Officer-in-Charge at the Primary Health Centre, Jharia-cum-Jodapokhar, Dhanbad (now deceased), to siphon off government funds.
Further investigations under PMLA have revealed that the total amount misappropriated in the scam has now escalated to Rs 9.39 crore.
As part of its crackdown on money laundering, the ED had earlier conducted search operations at multiple locations linked to Pramod Kumar Singh and his associates in July and September 2024. During these searches, the agency seized:
According to ED, an immovable property worth Rs 1.63 crore, was provisionally attached on August 30, 2024.
With the latest attachment of Ramapati Devi’s property, the cumulative value of assets seized or attached in this case now exceeds Rs 3.5 crore.
On February 18, 2025, the ED arrested Pramod Kumar Singh under Section 19 of the PMLA, 2002, for offences related to money laundering. The agency is continuing its probe to track further illicit assets and uncover the full extent of the scam.
Further investigations are underway.
–IANS
skp/
