Days After Cash Haul, ED Arrests Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Wednesday arrested Jharkhand’s parliamentary affairs and rural development minister Alamgir Alam on money laundering charges, eight days after ₹35.20 crore was recovered from premises linked to his OSD (officer on special duty) Sanjeev Lal and his associates on May 6, people aware of the development said.
“After nine hours of interrogation on Tuesday and six hours of interrogation on Wednesday, the minister was arrested. He will be produced before the special PMLA court on Thursday,” an ED official said, without sharing details.
Alam’s arrest is second major action by the federal agency this year against political heavyweights in the state.
Earlier this year, former chief minister Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31 in connection with an ongoing probe related to an alleged land scam.
Alam has been arrested as part of ED’s probe into alleged laundering of money earned by collection of cuts from contractors appointed for implementation of government schemes involving Virendra Ram, the arrested former chief engineer of rural development department.
Alam, a fourth-term Congress MLA, is also the leader of its legislature party in the assembly. He has also served as Speaker in the past.
Alam, MLA from Pakur, is a political heavyweight in Santhal Parganas division of the state, where three Lok Sabha seats are going to vote on June 1, the last of the ongoing seven-phase parliamentary elections in the country.
The Congress had been maintaining distance from Alam since the cash seizure on May 6. He also did not attend the two rallies of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge since then.
For the record, the party described Alam’s arrest as political vendetta. “After four phases of elections, PM Modi knows they are losing the polls. This is a desperate attempt to disturb the elections by proxy. He is a major force in Santhal Parganas where elections are due in the seventh phase. This arrest is sheer vendetta,” said Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Rakesh Sinha.
On May 12, a day before the first phase of election in Jharkhand on May 13, the 70-year-old Congress leader was summoned by ED and asked to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the ED’s zonal office in Ranchi on May 14.
The minister, unlike former chief minister Hemant Soren, responded positively and appeared before the ED for questioning. He was questioned from 11am to 8pm on Tuesday and from 12 noon to 6pm on Wednesday before he was arrested.
“The probe agency sought to know the source of cash and minister’s role in dumping of ₹32 crore at the residence of a private servant of the OSD. They also questioned him about 1.5 per cent commission from contractors which came out from during interrogation of Lal,” said an ED official, who wished not to be named.
ED has already arrested Lal (52), a state administrative service officer, and his domestic help Jahangir Alam (42).
The probe pertains to alleged irregularities and payment of “bribes” in the state rural development department.
On May 6, the agency raided at least six locations in Ranchi and recovered ₹35.23 crore in cash, largely from the residence of Jahangir Alam. The seizures also included ₹10.05 lakh from Lal’s house, apart from ₹3 crore from the residence of a builder allegedly linked to the OSD.
While seeking the remand of Lal and his domestic help, the agency had informed a special PMLA court in Ranchi that the former collected “commission” on behalf of some influential people and government officials from “top to bottom” in the rural department are involved in the alleged bribery case, the ED official cited above said, requesting anonymity.