RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam in a money laundering case linked to a multi-crore tender scam, days after a massive cash seizure from premises linked to his aide, officials said.
The ED arrested the minister around 6 pm from its zonal office in Ranchi after questioning him for over six hours under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). After questioning the 70-year-old Congress leader for over nine hours on Tuesday, ED asked Alam to come again on Wednesday morning.
Alam came under ED radar after the cash haul of Rs 32 crore from the residence of the domestic help of his private secretary Sanjeev Lal. The agency had arrested Lal and his domestic help, Jehangir Alam, following the recovery of Rs 35.23 crore from their premises on May 6.
According to ED sources, during the interrogation, Lal has named some bureaucrats and politicians on whose behalf he collected commissions from contractors and engineers.
The money laundering investigation pertains to alleged irregularities and payment of “bribes” in the state rural development department against awarding tenders.
On May 8, ED sleuths had entered the rural development ministry office in Ranchi and searched the files and recovered `1.75 lakh new currency notes and Rs 28,000 old 500 notes from Lal’s official chamber.
ED heat is likely to reach also to the top officials of rural development department as the agency, in its remand note submitted to the court, has alleged that “officials from top to bottom” of the department were involved in a money laundering nexus. “During the investigation, role of some IAS officers and politicians has emerged as highly suspicious,” said an ED official.
It was revealed that Rs 35.23 crore commissions were generated in only three months.