Enforcement Directorate arrests RJD MP in fertiliser scam

PATNA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested RJD’s Rajya Sabha MP Amrendra Dhari Singh from his upscale Defence Colony residence in New Delhi in connection with alleged irregularities in import of fertilisers by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO). Singh has been booked under relevant sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The scam pertains to the period when Singh was the managing director of Jyoti Trading Corporation.
The case lodged by the CBI last month pertains to an alleged fertiliser scam linked to IFFCO and India Potash Limited. Sources said that crores of rupees were siphoned off as commission on subsidy given to the farmers on fertilisers between 2007 and 2014.
The CBI had begun investigation into the case based on complaints lodged by BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey and one Satish Tripathi of Bareilly with the Union ministry of fertiliser and chemicals recently. The accused in the case have been charged with receiving illegal commission worth over Rs 685 crore reportedly outside India.
The probe agency suspects involvement of Augusta Westland case accused and chartered accountant Rajiv Saxena, Jyoti Trading Corporation and Rare Earth Group owner Pankaj Jain, his brother Sanjay Jain and RJD MP A D Singh in the scam.
The RJD has described Singh’s arrest as a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP and JD(U). “He comes from a businessman’s family and notices are served on the members of trading community by IT and other agencies. Nothing is unusual in it,” former RJD MLA and party’s spokesperson Shaktisingh Yadav said.
The RJD spokesperson said the way Singh has been framed in a PMLA case posed a serious threat to the democratic set up in the country. “Everything was fine till he was not part of the RJD, but things suddenly changed after he joined the party,” Yadav said.
JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar said the RJD MP’s arrest has added a new chapter in the party’s “politics of corruption”. He said a probe should be conducted to find out whether money changed hands in the nomination of Singh to Rajya Sabha.
He urged the probe agency to expand its jurisdiction of investigation and find out whether money earned from the fertilizer scam was used in his Rajya Sabha nomination as RJD has a history of giving Upper House berths to people who have accumulated property through disproportionate sources of income.
According to affidavit filed by Singh, he has movable property worth Rs 188.57 crore and immovable assets worth over Rs 49.6 crore. He owns land, flats and offices in Delhi, Haryana, Rajsthan and Maharashtra. His IT return for 2019-20 fiscal was over Rs 24 crore.
A native of Ekma village under Dulhinbazar block in Patna district, Singh was nominated to the Upper House last year to the utter surprise of senior leaders of RJD. Apart from his fertiliser and chemical businesses, Singh has also made huge investments in real estate sector.