Udaipur/ Nagpur: A senior IAS officer, Ashok Singhavi, appointed as Principal Secretary in Rajasthan Mining Department has been caught in Udaipur by ACB personnel for taking a hefty bribe of Rs 3.80 crore. Earlier, a senior official of post of Additional Director in Mining Department, Pankaj Gehlot, was arrested by ACB for accepting a bribe of Rs 2.5 crore for allegedly allowing re-opening of 6 shut down mines, said media reports.
According to media, along with Pankaj Gehlot, five persons including Senior Mines Engineer P R Ametha and two consultants have also been arrested. When the bank accounts of Gehlot were verified, there were found Rs 3.85 crore balance, and the money has been seized. Further investigation is underway.
ACB’s Addl DG Navdeep Singh claims that five persons have been arrested and they include two government employees and the remaining ones are middle men. As the action is still continuing, further details may be disclosed later, he added.
According to Navdeep Singh, Rs 2.55 crore were seized during raids at the house of CA Shyamsingh Singhvi, Rs 1.60 lakh were seized from a car possessed by accused and Rs 43 lakh were found deposited in the bank account of P R Ametha who has been arrested from Bhilwada.
