Jalandhar ED office yet to get transfer order

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 20

Five days after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Niranjan Singh was shifted to Kolkata, the central investigating agency’s office here is yet to receive a hard copy of the transfer order.

An Assistant Director, Niranjan Singh had last month questioned Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia in the infamous Bhola drug case.

The ED top officials in Delhi have already confirmed the transfer order in a press release issued on Sunday. But as a hard copy is awaited, the investigating agency has not been able to relieve the officer and appoint his successor. This is despite the fact that the deadline for filing of chargesheets against three accused in the case, Bittu Aulakh, Sukhjeet Sukha and Varinder Raja, are approaching.

Rajeshwar Singh, Deputy Director, New Delhi, said, “The transfer order was issued by our Director. There could have been a dispatch delay.” On Niranjan Singh’s replacement, he said, “The Joint Director in Jalandhar, Girish Bali, is to see whether he himself takes up the case or assigns it to an Assistant Director.”

Bali could not be contacted as he is learnt to have left for ED Senior Officers Quarterly Conference at Bhubaneshwar and would be back on Monday. The ED’s Jalandhar office has two more Assistant Directors, Manoj Sharma and Gurinder Kaur.