Ranchi: ED Recovers Huge Amount Of Cash From Alleged Aid Of Jharkhand Minister

RANCHI: In a major crackdown, the Enforcement Directorate seized a humongous amount of money on May 6 from the premises of the house help of Sanjiv Lal, personal secretary of Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam.

This massive seizure happened to be a part of multiple raids by the ED in Ranchi that began this morning.

The confiscated sum of money was so much so that counting machines had to be brought in to ascertain the exact amount.

The confiscated amount was mostly in the denomination of 500 rupee notes and some jewellery has also been recovered.

Meanwhile, the ED has also found Rs 3 crore from another location pertaining to the raids.

Notably, Congress leader Alamgir Alam represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand Assembly and happens to be the incumbent Rural Development Minister in the state government.

The multiple raids are linked to an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case against Virendra K Ram, former chief engineer of the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, who was arrested last year.

It is connected to alleged irregularities in the implementation of some schemes in the department.

Earlier in February last year, Virendra K Ram was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate after the probe agency carried out multiple searches in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and other places in Jharkhand, along with Bihar and Delhi.

A huge sum of money was confiscated from one of Virendra K Ram's subordinates back in 2019. Later, the ED took over the reigns of the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act.

The money laundering case against Virendra K Ram stems from a complaint filed by the Jharkhand anti-corruption bureau (ACB).

In a statement last year, the ED had alleged that Virendra K Ram had "generated proceeds of crime in the name of commission from contractors in lieu of allotment of tenders to them".

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