ED raid in Jharkhand: ₹ 25 crore cash found at house of domestic help of Jharkhand minister’s aide

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted series of raids leading to recovery of ₹ 25 crore “unaccounted” cash at the premises of a domestic help allegedly linked to secretary of Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam.

The video footage of the raid shows a big pile of currency notes scattered across a room purportedly belonging to the domestic aide of Sanjiv Lal, the personal secretary to Jharkhand Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam. 

The 70-year-old Alamgir Alam is a Congress leader and represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand assembly. The recent raids were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) targeting approximately half a dozen locations linked to Veerendra Kumar Ram, the former chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, who was arrested by the ED in February last year, and his inner circle. 

The money laundering case against Ram began after a complaint of the state anti-corruption bureau, PTI has reported.

According to a statement by ED last year, Ram had “generated proceeds of crime in the name of commission from contractors in lieu of allotment of tenders to them”. The agency also alleged that Ram and his family members used the proceeds of the crime to “live a very lavish lifestyle”.

The central probe agency is conducting simultaneous raids at nine locations, including Sail City in Ranchi.
On Monday morning, one team of the ED was scouring Sail City to locate Vikas Kumar, an engineer from the Road Construction Department. Another ED team is conducting raids in the Bariatu, Morhabadi, and Bodia areas, reported NDTV.

Commenting on the incident, Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdev said, “Corruption is not ending in Jharkhand. This money during elections indicates that there is a plan to spend this money in the elections. The Election Commission should take action on this.”