Meet woman, who cracked UPSC at 21, year later arrested in money laundering case, then reinstated, she is...

Pooja Singhal is that name who have earned a reputation of working with top political leaders of Bihar as a civil servant and lost it as well after being arrested in a money laundering case in connection with diversion of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) funds in May 2022.  

Her career trajectory shined with working under top names like Arjun Munda, Raghubar Das of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). 

Pooja Singhal’s career 

The UP born IAS was serving as a secretary in Jharkhand’s mines department when she was arrested while the JMM was in power. Before her arrest she also worked as agriculture secretary and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ during the time of Raghubar Das from 2014 to 2019. 

Pooja Singhal was 21 at the time of cracking the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination which she did in a single attempt.  

She is now set to work in the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Raj Bhasa after the Jharkhand government lifted her suspension. She was granted bail on December 7, 2024. 

What was the case? 

The ED investigated the alleged diversion of Rs 18.6 crore from the MGNREGS and arrested Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, a former junior engineer in Jharkhand, in June 2020. The case stemmed from 16 FIRs filed by the Jharkhand Police related to embezzlement during the tenure of Deputy Commissioner Singhal (2009-2010).  

Sinha reportedly admitted to paying bribes to senior officials, and an audit showed Rs 18.06 crore was embezzled under Singhal's watch. In May 2022, the ED raided properties linked to Singhal, her accountant Suman Kumar, and her husband's hospital in Ranchi, discovering large sums of cash. Kumar allegedly admitted the cash belonged to Singhal. Singhal was suspended and arrested on 11 May 2022.