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ED arrests Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam’s secy and latter’s domestic help after ₹32 crore cash haul
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
As many as eight note-counting machines were deployed by the agency apart from bank staff to ascertain the exact amount of currency that was majorly in the ₹500 denomination.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday, May 7, arrested Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam’s secretary Sanjiv Lal and the latter’s domestic help following the recovery ₹32 crore, officials told PTI. The duo have been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following their overnight questioning.
On May 6, the ED had raided a 2BHK flat in Ranchi that is allegedly occupied by Lal’s domestic help Jehangir Alam, as part of a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the state rural development department, they said.
The agency had seized ₹35.23 crore “unaccounted” cash and official documents during searches in the state as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the state rural development department.
An official document written by the ED to the state chief secretary and recommendatory transfer and posting letters were also found during the searches at the premises, the source said.
The ED has been probing the case since 2023 and has arrested a former chief engineer of the state rural development department. Videos and photos shared by the sources showed officials of the agency emptying wads of currency notes from large bags in a 2BHK flat located at Gadikhana Chowk in Ranchi.
As many as eight note-counting machines were deployed by the agency apart from bank staff to ascertain the exact amount of currency that was majorly in the ₹500 denomination. Personnel of central paramilitary forces stood guard at the building where the flat is located.
The searches are linked to a money laundering case against Veerendra Kumar Ram, posted as chief engineer in the Rural Works Department in Ranchi.
“Ram had generated proceeds of crime in the name of commission from contractors in lieu of allotment of tenders to them,” the agency had alleged in a statement issued in April 2023 after it attached the officer’s assets worth ₹39 crore.
“The proceeds of crime thus generated were used by Ram and his family members to live a very lavish lifestyle,” it said.
The money laundering case against Ram stems from a complaint of the Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
With inputs fom PTI
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