Jharkhand raids: ED seizes Rs 30 crore from help of minister’s PA

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 6

In a dramatic development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday morning conducted a series of raids across multiple locations in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, leading to seizure of around Rs 30 crore unaccounted cash. Incidentally, the cash was recovered during searches on the premises of a domestic help allegedly linked to a secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam, official sources said.

Currency counting machines deployed

• Currency counting machines were deployed after many wads of cash seized from the house ‘belonging’ to domestic aide of Sanjiv Lal, PA of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam.

Mountains of cash

Mountains of cash are being found in Jharkhand.... Modi is taking action against corruption. Narendra Modi, PM

The development evoked sharp reactions from the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who at a rally in Odisha’s Nabrangpur, said, “Mountains of cash are being found in Jharkhand... Modi is taking action against corruption.”

The raids targeted several locations linked to Virendra Ram, former Chief Engineer, Jharkhand Rural Development Department, and his associates. Ram was arrested by the ED in February 2023 in connection with a money laundering case.

Many bundles of cash were recovered at a location, reportedly belonging to the domestic aide of Sanjiv Lal, the personal secretary of Alamgir Alam. ED sources said cash counting machines had been deployed to ascertain the exact amount.

The cash is largely in the denomination of Rs 500. Some jewellery had also been recovered, they added.

Alam is a Congress leader and represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand Assembly. “Virendra Ram had generated proceeds of crime in the name of commission from contractors in lieu of allotment of tenders to them,” the agency claimed in a statement issued last year in April after it attached assets worth Rs 39 crore of the officer.

“The proceeds of crime thus generated were used by Virendra Ram and his family members to live a lavish lifestyle,” it had said further. The money laundering case against Ram stems from a complaint of the Jharkhand ACB. He was apprehended last year, during which authorities purportedly found a pen drive containing transaction records.

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