New Delhi, January 23: In a shocking development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested three advocates on Thursday as part of an investigation into a money laundering case linked to the Patna Railway Claims Tribunal scam.
The arrests followed searches carried out on January 22 at multiple locations in Patna, Nalanda, and Mangalore. These locations were connected to Judge RK Mittal and other Advocates, individuals allegedly involved in the scam.
The arrested advocates—Bidyanand Singh, Parmanand Sinha, and Vijay Kumar—are accused of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The trio was presented before a special PMLA court and remanded to judicial custody.
The investigation was initiated by the ED after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed First Information Reports (FIRs) in connection with widespread irregularities involving death claims processed and decided at the Railway Claims Tribunal in Patna. The FIRs name several unknown public servants at the Railway along with the three advocates and others involved in the alleged conspiracy, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
According to the FIRs, in cases of accidental death claims, a substantial portion of the compensation intended for the claimants was fraudulently diverted by the conspirators, with only a fraction reaching the rightful claimants.
The ED’s probe revealed that Bidyanand Singh, along with his colleagues Parmanand Sinha and Vijay Kumar, handled around 900 cases in which compensation amounting to nearly Rs 50 crore was awarded. The advocates are alleged to have opened and operated bank accounts in the names of claimants without their consent. Using forged signatures and thumb impressions, they transferred the claim amounts to their own accounts or withdrew the funds in cash.
The accused advocates only provided claimants with a small portion of the compensation, keeping the remainder for them. During the searches, authorities recovered evidence pointing to assets acquired by the advocates and Judge Mittal. The ED also seized physical and digital records, including signed blank cheques and documents signed by claimants, further implicating the suspects.
