ED arrests ex-NRHM staffer from Dhanbad in Rs 9.39 crore scam case

SUBHASH MISHRA

Ranchi, Feb 19: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Ranchi has arrested Pramod Kumar Singh, a former contractual staff member of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Court grants three-day remand

An FIR was filed against Pramod Kumar Singh and others for possessing disproportionate assets and embezzling over Rs 9.39 crore from the NRHM funds.

Last year, the ED raided Singh’s residence in the Saraidhela area of Dhanbad. Despite issuing 12 summonses to him in connection with the alleged disproportionate assets case, Singh failed to appear before the agency.

The ED arrested Singh and presented him in the Ranchi PMLA court today, requesting a seven-day remand for further interrogation. However, the court granted only three days of remand.

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Role in embezzlement of NRHM funds

Pramod Singh previously served as the contractual NRHM Block Account Manager at the Jharia Jorapokhar Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Dhanbad. According to charges from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Singh, along with the then Medical Officer In-Charge, the late Dr. Shashibhushan Prasad, embezzled over Rs 9.39 crore allotted by the District Health Society.

Singh was dismissed from his job and cases were filed against him for misusing health department funds to increase personal property in the names of his wife, family members, and colleagues. After his dismissal, Singh also became involved in coal trading.

In light of the ACB cases, the ED team in Ranchi raided Singh’s Dhanbad residence on September 2, 2024, attaching assets worth Rs 1.62 crore, including three luxury cars. Singh had then managed to escape from his residence before the ED raid took place.