J'khand govt suspends arrested IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan

Jharkhand IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, arrested in connection with alleged illegal land deals, was suspended by the Jharkhand government on Saturday, an official said.

The Enforcement Directorate produced him before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, which remanded him to six days of ED custody.

''Chhavi Ranjan, Director, Social Welfare, Jharkhand is suspended with immediate effect after his arrest by Enforcement Directorate, regional office under section 19 of the PMLA Act, 2002,'' a notification issued by the state government said on Saturday evening.

It added that Ranjan was suspended ''under the provisions of All India Services (Discipline and Appeal Rules) 1969.” The 2011-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre was arrested late on Thursday and taken into ED custody, after he was interrogated for around 10 hours.

The special court had on Friday sent Ranjan to Birsa Munda Central Jail, Hotwar.

The ED sought a 10-day custody to question the former Ranchi deputy commissioner, the official said.

Ranjan's lawyer Abhishek Krishna Gupta said he will again be produced in court on May 12.

The investigating officer of the case also recorded a statement of Ranjan under provisions of PMLA.

The ED had also quizzed Ranjan on April 24 and on April 13, when searches were carried out at his premises and those of some others in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.

The central agency is investigating more than a dozen land deals, including one pertaining to defence land, wherein a group of mafias, middlemen and bureaucrats allegedly ''connived'' in forging deeds and documents from as early as 1932.