A day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered mountains of cash from premises linked to Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam's personal secretary Sanjiv Lal, two arrests were made on Tuesday morning.
Besides Sanjiv Lal, his domestic help Jehangir has also been arrested. The money, amounting to Rs 32 crore, was recovered from the help's house, an apartment in Ranchi, on Monday.
Both have been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after overnight questioning, sources told PTI. A total of Rs 32 crore in cash apart from Rs 3 crore from some other premises were recovered by the ED. The total cash recovery stands at Rs 35.23 crore, the sources said.
Footages shared by the ED sources had shown officials emptying wads of cash from large bags into piles of currency notes. Eight note-counting machines had to be deployed by the agency apart from bank staff to ascertain the exact amount of currency, which was majorly in the Rs 500 denomination. Personnel of central paramilitary forces stood guard at the building where the flat is located.
Two currency counting machines had to be replaced as they stopped working due to overheating and large trunks were brought inside the location to take the cash for depositing in a bank.
A total of six premises are being searched as part of the operation, and from two premises the agency has recovered Rs 2.93 crore and Rs 10 lakh each, the sources said. Some jewellery has also been seized.
The raids were conducted as part of a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the state rural development department. Last year, the ED arrested Virendra Ram, a chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, in connection with the alleged irregularities in the implementation of some schemes. The ED had also seized Ram's assets worth Rs 39.29 crore.
According to the documents filed by the ED in the PMLA (Prevention of Money-Laundering Act) court, Virendra Ram had approached a Delhi-based chartered accountant last year to launder his wealth. The money, amounting to several crores, was the kickbacks he received in return for contracts awarded to companies.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand rural development minister and Congress leader Alam had denied any wrongdoing on his part. Alam told PTI on Monday that he had no official information regarding this so far. "I have been watching TV and it says the premises are linked to the official PS (private secretary) provided to me by the government," he added.
