Land deal ‘scam’: ED arrests Jharkhand IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan after 10-hour questioning

New Delhi, May 4

The Enforcement Directorate on day arrested Jharkhand IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with its probe into illegal land deals in the state, sources said.

The ED – which has been investigating laundering of money relating to alleged illegal transfer of land in Ranchi – arrested Jharkhand’s social welfare director Ranjan after questioning him for over 10 hours today, they said.

Ranjan, a 2011-batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, was arrested for allegedly colluding with land mafias to grab private and government land in Ranchi after confronting him with a number of land records, which were found to be “doctored” to change ownership and nature of land, the sources said.

ED sleuths began questioning him about his role as Ranchi’s deputy commissioner. This was the second time the IAS officer was questioned by ED, which earlier quizzed him on April 24.