Ranchi: In the tender scam in Jharkhand, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids at approximately nine locations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Ranchi.
The raids primarily targeted the premises of suspended Chief Engineer Virendra Ram and his associates. Additionally, there are reports of raids being conducted at the hideouts of several politicians.
The operations are spread across various locations, including Cell City. During the searches, the residence of the domestic servant of Sanjeev Lal, the personal secretary of Jharkhand Minister Alamgir, was also scrutinised. The exact amount of cash recovered is currently being tallied.
The ED’s actions extended to the residence of Minister Alamgir Alam’s personal assistant, Sanjeev Kumar, and several others in Ranchi. The targets reportedly include government officials, their associates, and politicians.
Cash was also seized from other locations. Sanjiv Lal had rented or purchased a house in the name of his household staff, from where cash was recovered.
Furthermore, the ED raided the premises of two engineers, Vikas Kumar and Kuldeep Minj.
According to ED sources, Rs 35.23 crore was recovered from the house of Jahangir Alam, who is allegedly the household help of Sanjiv Lal, PS to Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam, and is said to be close to the minister.
Additionally, the ED recovered a list of officers seeking prime posts at the recommendation of various Congress leaders, along with documents related to favoring contractors chosen by the minister in awarding contracts.
The agency also found several letters, along with bundles of notes, that former Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh had written to the rural development secretary, sharing details of the ED’s probe report against the jailed chief engineer of the rural works department, Virendra Ram. Singh had urged the rural development secretary to take immediate action based on the ED report.
It is worth noting that Virendra Ram is still in custody, and today’s raids are believed to be a continuation of the investigation into the same case.
