Harish Rawat steps down from Congress posts after cash, gold recovered from his former PA

DEHRADUN: The Enforcement Directorate has seized Rs 32 lakh in suspected unaccounted cash, about 200.5 grams of gold and 12 luxury watches during searches linked to alleged irregularities in Uttarakhand’s 2016 Village Panchayat Development Officer recruitment examination, the agency said.

The searches were conducted on Thursday at several locations in Dehradun under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The premises covered included those of the then Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission chairman, secretary and examination controller, besides the owner of a private computer agency and others allegedly connected with the case.

According to the ED, the cash and valuables were recovered from the residence of Chandan Singh Jeena, who served as an officer on special duty to then chief minister Harish Rawat between 2014 and 2017.

The seized gold comprised coins and chains, while the watches included brands such as Rolex, Rado, Piaget, Movado and Tissot. The agency also found an aggregate balance of about Rs 52.16 lakh in bank accounts belonging to Jeena and his family members.

The accounts have been frozen under Section 17(1A) of the PMLA. Jeena’s mobile phone and several other digital devices were also seized for forensic examination. The ED estimated the value of the assets seized or frozen at approximately Rs 1.28 crore, excluding the valuation of the luxury watches.

The money-laundering investigation stems from alleged manipulation of optical mark recognition sheets used in the 2016 VPDO examination.

The agency suspects that OMR sheets kept in secure custody were taken to the then secretary’s private residence. Sheets on which candidates had allegedly left answers blank were purportedly handed over to employees of the private computer agency.

The blank answer bubbles were allegedly filled in before the sheets were resealed, investigators said. The agency is probing suspected illegal payments made in return for manipulating the examination results.

The roles of former commission officials, the private agency and other individuals remain under investigation.

A day after the searches, former chief minister Harish Rawat resigned from two Congress positions, saying he was stepping down as a member of the Uttarakhand Congress executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee.

“If there is evidence that he tampered with OMR sheets in the village development officer recruitment, I am ashamed of such an act. However, I do not believe the allegation,” Rawat said, acknowledging that Jeena had served as his OSD.

Rawat alleged that the timing of the action ahead of elections was intended to “create a narrative” against him and the Congress.

The ED has not named Rawat as an accused in the case. “The party’s fight against corruption should not be weakened because of me,” he said, apologising for any “error of judgement” in making appointments during his tenure.

Meanwhile, the BJP launched a scathing attack, saying that the discovery of a stash of black money with the former chief minister’s personal assistant proves that “the Congress stands with the corrupt.”

State spokesperson and Dharampur MLA Vinod Chamoli described Harish Rawat’s offer to resign as a political stunt aimed at garnering sympathy within the Congress.