PATNA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches on Friday at six premises across three states associated with SP Singla Constructions Pvt Ltd, a company responsible for several large bridge projects in Bihar, according to officials familiar with the matter.
The raids took place in Bihar, Haryana, and Delhi, just days after senior Bihar-cadre IAS officer Sanjeev Hans, who previously held an additional role as managing director of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited, was implicated in a money laundering case.
As of the time of this report, the ED had not issued an official statement regarding the raids. Earlier in the week, the federal anti-money laundering agency had searched properties linked to Hans, allegedly uncovering documents that tied him to the Singla group. The group was in the spotlight earlier this year when a mega bridge over the Ganga river in Bhagalpur district, costing Rs 1,710 crore, collapsed for the second time in as many years.
ED officials stated that the premises searched on Friday included the company’s offices on Boring Road and Nehru Path in Patna, its Ganga project office, as well as locations in Panchkula, Haryana, and Delhi.
SP Singla Constructions Pvt Ltd entered Bihar in 2006. Their projects include a 4.5-km-long extra-dosed bridge over the Kosi river costing Rs 700 crore, a parallel bridge to the Mahatma Gandhi Setu over the Ganga costing Rs 3,000 crore, the Sherpur-Chapra bridge on the Ganga for Rs 3,000 crore, a bridge near Mokama over the Ganga costing Rs 1,200 crore, a flyover in Kishanganj, and a four-lane elevated road between Digha and Deedarganj.
Company officials were not available for immediate comment. Numerous bridges in Bihar, both small and large, have collapsed since the onset of the monsoon this year.
