Hours after the sleuths of Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided and recovered a whopping cash (around Rs 35 crore) from the residence of the house help of Personal Secretary (PS) of Jharkhand’s Rural Development Minister, Aalamgir Alam, the agency has arrested PS Sanjiv Lal along with his domestic help Jahangir in connection with the cash recovered.
The arrest was made after the domestic help of Sanjiv Lal reportedly confessed about being a caretaker of the cash recovered from the premises linked to Lal during initial interrogation on May 6. The arrested accused have been produced before a court on Tuesday, from where they have been sent to a six day remand.
The duo was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after being grilled by the ED’s officials. The duo was reportedly not cooperating with the officials during the interrogation.
Earlier, bank officials along with the counting machine were called to count the cash recovered from the flat of the household help of Sanjiv Lal. The ED officials during the raid have also seized documents from the spot alongside seizing a whopping cash of 32 crores. The recovery of Rs 3 crore was made from a separate location.
The Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids at multiple locations in #Ranchi
Huge amount of cash has been recovered from household help of Sanjiv Lal – PS to Jharkhand Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam, in Virendra Ram case
ED arrested Virendra K. Ram, the chief… pic.twitter.com/utkxozEWuA
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) May 6, 2024
The development which grabbed the attention of the media amidst a fiery ongoing election campaign occurred after the ED conducted raids on a number of locations including the flat linked to Aalamgir Alam PS, Sanjiv Lal in State’s capital Ranchi on Monday.
The raids conducted by the ED officials on Monday pertains to an ongoing investigation related to the case involving Virendra K Ram, the chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department.
Virendra Ram was arrested by ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of Government schemes in February last year. Later on five more individuals were also arrested in connection with the alleged irregularities.
Fresh raids conducted by ED
Notably, the ED has also conducted raids on a number of location including premises linked to builders in the State’s capital, Ranchi, on Tuesday, May 7.
According to the reports, the ED’s raids are going on a number of location where too the officials have recovers a huge haul of cash.
Congress minister denies involvement
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, the rural development minister of the Jharkhand government from the Congress quota, Aalamgir Alam, earlier remarked that Lal, a government employee, has been a personal secretary of tow former ministers.
“There are several government employees and we usually appoint personal secretaries based on experience. It is not right to comments on the raids before ED’s investigation is completed, added Alam.
BJP demands for CBI probe
Addressing a press conference on the development, Bharatiya Janata President (BJP) of the Jharkhand unit, Babu Lal Marandi, said that “the recovery of the ED’s letter to the secretary of rural department from the cash haul recovered is very serious.”
ED का राज्य सरकार के सचिव को लिखा पत्र आज छापेमारी में मिले नोटों के पहाड़ के बीच मिलना काफी गंभीर है, मुख्यमंत्री चम्पई सोरेन तुरंत इसपर जांच कराएं – प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @yourBabulal जी pic.twitter.com/h0OLUPCIR8
— BJP JHARKHAND (@BJP4Jharkhand) May 6, 2024
“We demand that the Chief Minister immediately order the department to register a First Information Report (FIR) into the matter on the basis of ED’s letter. Alongside, we also demand that the CM recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter,” added Marandi further.
Notably, taking a dig at the opposition the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, while addressing a political rally on Monday also lashes out at the opposition parties for promoting corruption.
“These Congress and I.N.D.I alliance people always chant EDs name in frustration, today, the whole country is watching the reason behind this on TV. In Jharkhand the ED has recovered a mountain of cash from the house of domestic help of the Congress leader PS,” said PM Modi
इंडी गठबंधन के नेताओं के पास इतने बड़े नोटों के पहाड़ मिल रहे हैं कि नोट गिनने वाली मशीनें भी हांफ जा रही हैं. pic.twitter.com/yGgD4HGhF1
— BJP JHARKHAND (@BJP4Jharkhand) May 6, 2024
This is not the first time that a recovery of such a cash haul has been made; earlier, a similar recovery was made from the premises linked to a congress leader. Even the note counting machines are struggling to keep up with the recoveries made, added the PM.
