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Former ministers in the previous BJP government in Jharkhand are accused of amassing disproportionate assets, and the state government has launched an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The decision comes after the state administration ordered a judicial panel to investigate potential irregularities in the construction of the state legislature building and the new high court in May.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren approved a proposal for an ACB investigation into potential irregularities in the state's foundation day celebrations in 2016 during the BJP's leadership in the state in February.

In the context of a PIL filed in the High Court in 2020 in Pankaj Kumar Yadav v/s Jharkhand State, the state government has ordered an ACB investigation into the matter of disproportionate assets of ministers during the previous government, according to a statement released by the state government on Tuesday evening.

Former ministers Neera Yadav, Randhir Kumar Singh, Neelkanth Singh Munda, Amar Kumar Bauri, and Luis Marandi were accused of amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income, according to the petitioner.

On May 17, the state government established a judicial panel to investigate potential anomalies in the construction of the state legislature building and the new high court, which were both inaugurated nearly three years ago.

Mr Soren had requested an ACB investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the construction of the new state legislature and high court in July of last year.

The three-story assembly complex, which cost 465 crore to build, was opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 12, 2019, 19 years after the state was created out of Bihar.

Former BJP chief minister Raghubar Das laid the foundation stone for the project in 2015.

Mr Soren had authorised a proposal for an ACB investigation into alleged irregularities in the state foundation day celebrations in 2016 during the previous BJP rule in the state on February 3.