ED conducts fresh searches in Bihar govt tenders' irregularities case

The Enforcement Directorate has conducted fresh searches in a money laundering case linked to an alleged contractor-bureaucrats nexus in Bihar where purported irregularities were detected in the tenders issued by the state government.

The raids were conducted at nine locations in Patna and Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Surat (Gujrarat) and Panipat (Haryana) on Thursday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case linked to Patna-based contractor Rishu Shree, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

Several "incriminating" evidence and documents were seized during the raids that were carried out against some people and travel agents "connected" to the contractor, it said.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the special vigilance unit (SVU) of Bihar government against Rishu Shree and others.

The companies of the contractor take contracts and sub-contracts in various Bihar government departments like water resources, health, public health engineering, urban development, Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCO), education, building and construction and rural works department.

It is alleged to that the contractor has a "nexus" with various government officials to facilitate tenders for "illicit" personal gains, the ED said.

The agency had conducted similar raids against certain government officials in this case in March and had seized Rs 11.64 crore.