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Sanjeev Kumar Lal, secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam, being produced before a court following his arrest in Ranchi on Tuesday
RANCHI:
ED
presented Jharkhand rural development minister
Alamgir Alam
's PA
Sanjeev Lal
and the latter's help Jehangir Alam before a special PMLA court in Ranchi in an alleged scam case on Tuesday.
The court granted ED six days' custody of the duo, who were arrested in the alleged scam of commission for work contracts and money laundering in rural works department.
The remand period of the arrested duo will start Wednesday.
ED: Ex-chief engineer used to take 1.5% cut, pay his seniors, netas
Jharkhand rural development minister Alamgir Alam's PA Sanjeev Lal was arrested at 12.40am, followed by latter's help Jehangir Alamat at 2am on Tuesday after extensive searches yielded over Rs 35 crore in cash and incriminating documents from various locations.
ED revealed that during the searches conducted on Monday, Rs 32.2 crore was found from Jehangir's premises in Garikahna, along with Rs 2.9 crore from another associate and Rs 10 lakh from Lal's home. Two vehicles, one registered in Jehangir's name but funded by Lal, were seized. ED alleged Jehangir's statement confirmed the existing nexus involved in commission collection and distribution.
The agency continued its search at five more locations in Ranchi on Tuesday, seizing Rs 1.5 crore from the premises of middleman Rajiv Kumar Singh. According to ED sources, over Rs 10 crore was routed through Singh.
"During the course of investigation, it was revealed that Veerendra Kumar Ram, arrested by ED on Feb 23, 2023... currently on deputation as
chief engineer
to rural works department.... Ram used to collect commissions in terms of allocation of tender and execution of work and the said commission/fixed share of 1.5% was distributed among his seniors and politicians," said ED.
ED's prosecution complaint before the court in April 2023 against Ram and three others was followed by a supplementary prosecution complaint in Aug 2023 against six more people - all alleged intermediaries and benefactors in the
commission scandal
.
ED said Lal collected commissions through intermediaries. Citing an instance, it said crores of rupees were handed over to Lal in Sept 2022. Jehangir was allegedly found assisting Lal in hoarding proceeds of the crime, with another assistant engineer.
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