 "Rs 30 crore recovered, counting machines breaking down: Inside ED's huge cash haul in Ranchi")
The Enforcement Directorate has struck it big in Ranchi.
The agency has recovered over Rs 30 crore from the home of a help employed by the personal secretary to the state’s rural development minister
The raids came in connection with a case against a former chief engineer in the Jharkhand Rural Development Department.
Let’s take a look at what we know:
What do we know?
The ED conducted raids at multiple locations in Ranchi on Monday.
According to reports, the agency discovered over 30 crore from the residence of a household help employed by Sanjiv Lal.
Lal is personal secretary to Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam.
#WATCH | Jharkhand: Huge amount of cash recovered from household help of Sanjiv Lal - PS to Jharkhand Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam - in ED raids at multiple locations in Ranchi in Virendra Ram case.
— ANI (@ANI) May 6, 2024
ED arrested Virendra K. Ram, the chief engineer at the Jharkhand… pic.twitter.com/1yoBFRvaLa
As per The Times of India, Alam, 70 is a Congress leader.
He represents the Pakur constituency in the Jharkhand Assembly.
As per Mint, the agency found hundreds of bundles of Rs 500 notes at the residence.
Hindustan Times reported that the help’s name is Jahangir Alam.
The home is located at Sayed Residency near Ranchi Hill.
The outlet quoted sources as saying that the agency had deployed eight cash counting machines.
The money is still being totalled.
According to NDTV, several cash machines broke malfunctioned and new ones had to be procured.
“Rs 30 crore has been seized so far. The raid is still underway. The ED has covered six premises linked to Jharkhand minister and his aides,” ED officials told ANI.
The agency found Rs 2.93 crore and Rs 10 lakh each from two locations
The cash was largely in Rs 500 notes.
Some jewellery was also been recovered.
EDs sources told Indian Express it had also recovered some ‘incriminating documents.’
The raids are part of an ongoing investigation related to the case involving Virendra K Ram, former chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, who was arrested in February 2023 in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of government schemes.
“Following the arrest of Ram on 23 February last year, on 25 June the same year, ED had arrested three persons — Neeraj Mittal and Ram Prakash Bhatia from Delhi in connection with illegal transactions of Rs 121 crore in the case related to Ram, and a third identified as Tara Chand,” an ED source told Hindustan Times.
One of the other locations of the such location is the residence of Vikas Kumar, an engineer in the Road Construction Department.
As per NDTV, the ED conducted raids at nine places including Ranchi’s Sail City and the areas of Bariatu, Morhabadi, and Bodia.
‘No official information thus far’
The Times of India quoted Alam as saying, “I have no official information regarding this so far.”
“I have been watching TV and it says the premise is linked to the official PS (private secretary) provided to me by the government,” he added.
Alam told ANI, “Sanjiv Lal is a government employee. He is my personal secretary. Sanjiv Lal has already been a personal secretary of two former ministers. There are several government employees and we usually appoint personal secretary based on experience.”
Alam told NDTV there should be no rush to judgment before the ED has completed its probe.
“Any minister has two personal secretaries – one is a private one and the other is a government officer. Sanjiv Lal is a government officer, and has in the past been a PS to former BJP minister C P Singh as well,” harkhand Congress spokesperson Rakesh Sinha told Indian Express.
“Alamgir ji has told me that he has no connection with it (the seized cash). It seems that the raids were timed to be conducted ahead of the arrival of Rahul Gandhi in Jharkhand,” he said.
BJP MLA CP Singh told Indian Express that Lal was previously his personal secretary. “I had been very cautious and kept a watch, and had received no complaints regarding him during my tenure,” Singh said.
In 2019, a huge amount of cash was recovered from one of his subordinates. The ED later took over the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ED had arrested Virendra K Ram, the chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, in February 2023 in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of some schemes.
“Veerendra Kumar Ram, posted as chief engineer in the Rural Works Department in Ranchi, had generated proceeds of crime in the name of commission from contractors in lieu of allotment of tenders to them,” the agency said in a statement as per Mint
“The proceeds of crime thus generated were used by Veerendra Kumar Ram and his family members to live a very lavish lifestyle,” the agency added as per The Times of India.
BJP goes on attack
The BJP has attacked the Congress over the development.
Mint quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a public rally in Odisha’s Nabarangpur on Monday, as saying, “Today, mountains of currency notes are being found in the neighbouring state Jharkhand. People are saying “chori ho gaya aur mal pakad raha Modi waha” (theft has taken place and Modi has seized the robbed goods).”
“Now tell me, if I stop their theft, stop their earning, stop their loot, won’t they abuse Modi or not? Despite the abuses, shouldn’t I be doing this work? Shouldn’t I be saving your money.”
NDTV quoted Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi as wondering “what would be found in ministers’ homes?”
“They keep saying ED is harassing us. I want to tell the government and Kalpana Soren, you should remove Alamgir Alam as minister,” Marandi added.
Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo wrote on X:
चौकिएं मत।यह किसी सरकारी बैंक के कैश वाल्ट का दृश्य नहीं है ।यह झारखंड सरकार के मंत्री आलमगीर आलम जी के निजी सचिव के घर में @dir_ed के द्वारा की गई रेड के दौरान बरामद करोड़ों रुपए का खजाना है,जिसे झारखंड के आदिवासी मूलवासी जनता से लूटा गया है।
— Pratul Shah Deo🇮🇳 (@pratulshahdeo) May 6, 2024
निजी सचिव की तनख्वाह 35-40 हजार रुपए… pic.twitter.com/qGpqGrL82T
Meanwhile, BJP Member of Parliament Deepak Prakash sharply criticised Jharkhand’s ruling coalition of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
“Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and RJD are doing the work of converting Jharkhand into ‘Lootkhand’. Today again an amount of more than Rs 25 crore has been recovered, and it belongs to the ministers of the ruling party. The people of Jharkhand are feeling insulted today,” Prakash said.
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