Jharkhand: ED finds cash worth crores in house of domestic help ‘linked to’ minister’s aide

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed to have found a huge amount of “unaccounted” cash on the premises of a domestic help allegedly linked to the secretary of Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam.

Videos and photos shared online showed ED officials taking out wads of currency notes from large bags in a room located in the building at Gadikhana Chowk, Ranchi.

Cash may be worth Rs 20-30 crore

ED sources told PTI note-counting machines are being used to ascertain the exact amount, which could range around Rs 20-30 crore. The cash is largely in the denomination of Rs 500 and some jewellery has also been recovered, the sources told PTI.

Alam (70) told PTI that he had “no official information” regarding the matter 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.

Alam is a Congress leader and represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand Assembly.

The domestic help has been reportedly linked to Alam’s personal secretary Sanjiv Lal.

Searches linked to PMLA case

The searches are linked to a money-laundering case against the former chief engineer of the rural development department, Veerendra Kumar Ram, who was arrested by the ED last year.

“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 had alleged 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 Veerendra Kumar Ram and his family members to live a very lavish lifestyle,” it said.

The money-laundering case against Ram stems from a complaint of the Jharkhand anti-corruption bureau (ACB).

(With agency inputs)