The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam’s personal secretary Sanjiv Lal and his house help after it recovered “unaccounted cash”, estimated to be Rs 34.23 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam’s personal secretary Sanjiv Lal and the latter’s house help Jahangir after it recovered “unaccounted cash” worth Rs 34.23 crore during a raid on Monday.
The PTI news agency said the two men were arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after they were questioned overnight.
A video shared by news agency ANI showed Sanjiv Lal and Jahangir Alam being brought to the court before their arrest.
On Tuesday, Lal and Jahangir will be produced before a court today, following which the Enforcement Directorate will take them on remand.
On his part, Alam, the 70-year-old Congress leader and Jharkhand’s Rural Development Minister, has denied any wrong doing.
On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate conducted multiple raids in Ranchi, including a flat occupied by Lal’s house help, in connection to a money laundering case against Virendra K Ram, a former chief engineer of the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, who was arrested in February 2023.
The case is linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of some schemes in the department.
Besides the huge amount of cash and jewellery recovered from Jahangir’s premises, the probe agency also found Rs 3 crore at another location that belonged to builder Munna Singh, who used to work as a contractor in the Jharkhand Rural Development Department.
The money laundering case against Virendra K Ram stems from a complaint by the Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).