The Jharkhand High Court Wednesday ordered transfer of the assault case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The two officials allegedly assaulted a state government employee accused of corruption in January, sparking a confrontation between the central agency and the state police.
The order was passed by a bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi while hearing petitions filed by ED Assistant Director Pratik and Assistant Enforcement Officer Shubham Bharti. The two officers were accused of assaulting Santosh Kumar, an employee of the state’s drinking water and sanitation department who was accused of involvement in the alleged Rs 20-crore drinking water (Peyjal) scam, during questioning.
Kumar had alleged that he was assaulted inside the ED Ranchi zonal office during questioning on January 12. Following his complaint, Ranchi police registered an FIR invoking charges of murder and grievous hurt under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The ED officials had challenged this FIR in HC. According to the FIR, Kumar said he had been summoned to the ED office and pressured to confess to certain allegations. When he refused, two officials allegedly assaulted him with sticks, abused him and threatened him.
He further claimed that after sustaining a head injury requiring stitches, he was taken to Sadar Hospital but was asked to conceal the cause of the injury and was detained at the office till late at night.
Acting on the complaint, Ranchi police visited the ED office early on January 15 as part of the investigation.
Challenging the FIR, the two ED officials approached the Jharkhand High Court seeking to have the proceedings quashed and the probe transferred to the CBI. They also sought registration of a counter-FIR against Kumar for obstruction of official duty and self-harm.
In their plea, the officers said Kumar had come to the ED office on January 12 on his own and became agitated during the interaction. They alleged that he intentionally struck his head with a glass jug, citing medical records from Sadar Hospital that described the injury as “self-inflicted” and superficial. They argued that the FIR was intended to derail the money-laundering probe.
During the hearing, lawyers for the ED told the court that the agency is currently probing several high-profile cases in Jharkhand involving senior politicians, bureaucrats and IPS officers. They also submitted that Kumar himself is under the agency’s scanner in connection with the alleged Rs 23-crore scam, in which about Rs 9 crore has been recovered so far.
Court records show that Kumar had earlier been posted as a cashier in the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and is facing trial in a separate corruption case registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
In December 2023, an FIR was lodged alleging that fake bank accounts were created in the name of Larsen & Toubro and government funds worth about Rs 2.71 crore under an urban water supply scheme were siphoned off through six cheques issued in March 2020.
Kumar was arrested in April 2024 and later granted bail by a special ACB court in Ranchi in April 2025 after the chargesheet had been filed.
Earlier in the proceedings, the High Court had also directed Ranchi police to ensure security for ED officials.
