RANCHI: Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its probe into a money laundering case, was on Thursday remanded to the custody of the central agency for six days, lawyers said.
Earlier in the day, the minister was produced before a PMLA court in Ranchi, amid tight security arrangements, an ED official said.
Alam was arrested after a nine-hour grilling by the ED on Wednesday at the agency's office here. He was also questioned by the federal agency on Tuesday for over nine hours and his statement was recorded.
Alam, the state parliamentary affairs minister, represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand assembly.
He came under the ED radar following the recent arrest of his personal secretary and state administrative service officer Sanjeev Kumar Lal (52) and the latter's domestic help Jahangir Alam (42) who were raided by the agency on May 6.
The agency seized more than Rs 32 crore cash from a flat linked to them.
The minister had earlier told reporters that he was a "law-abiding" citizen as he sought to distance himself from the activities of Lal, saying he had worked with other ministers of the state government too in the past.
The money laundering investigation pertains to alleged irregularities and payment of "bribes" in the state rural development department.
While seeking the remand of the two arrested persons, the ED had informed a special PMLA court here that Lal collected "commission" on behalf of some influential people and that government officials from "top to bottom" in the rural department are involved in the alleged illegal cash payments nexus.
The total seizure of cash by the ED in this case has been recorded at around Rs 36.75 crore, as the agency seized about Rs 3 crore from other locations including Rs 10.05 lakh from Lal's place and Rs 1.5 crore from a contractor's place.
The ED has said that the names of "senior bureaucrats and politicians" have emerged in the case and this was being investigated. It had conducted searches at the rural development ministry in Ranchi too, with Lal accompanying ED officials.
The money laundering case of September 2020 is based on an anti-corruption branch (Jamshedpur) case of Jharkhand Police and a March 2023 FIR filed by the economic offences wing of the Delhi Police against former chief engineer of the state rural works department Veerendra Kumar Ram and some others.
Ram was arrested by the ED last year.
Ram, the ED claimed, used to "collect commissions" in the allocation of tenders and execution of work and this commission of 1.5 percent was "distributed" among his seniors and politicians.
It was alleged by the ED before the court that one such commission was handed over by Ram to Lal in September 2022.
The ED has been investigating multiple money laundering cases involving high-profile people in the state and it has arrested former chief minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren, IAS officers Chhavi Ranjan and Pooja Singhal, and other politically linked persons over the last 2-3 years.