The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids at multiple locations in Ranchi on Monday morning, uncovering over Rs 20 crore from the residence of a household help employed by Sanjiv Lal, the Personal Secretary to Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam. The counting of the recovered cash is still in process.
The raids are part of an ongoing investigation related to the case involving Virendra K. Ram, the 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.
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"The Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids at multiple locations in Ranchi, Jharkhand. A huge amount of cash was recovered from the household help of Sanjiv Lal, PS to Alamgir Alam, Rural Development Minister, Jharkhand. More than Rs 20 crores has been counted so far. Counting is still in process," ED officials said.
In 2019, a huge amount of cash was recovered from one of his subordinates. Later, the ED took over the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
ED 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.
Searches carried out in several areas in Ranchi
In addition to the raid at the residence of Sanjiv Lal's household help, the ED has also carried out searches at other locations in Ranchi.
One such location is the residence of Vikas Kumar, an engineer in the Road Construction Department.
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.
