The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Jharkhand Rural Development Minister and Congress leader Alamgir Alam in connection with a money laundering case. His arrest comes a day after the ED grilled him for nine hours at its zonal headquarters in Ranchi. As per sources, he was summoned for questioning today and the central probing agency apprehended the minister after he showed non-cooperation with the agency.
"I was called today as well and so I have come," Alam had told reporters before entering the ED office on Tuesday, adding, "I am a person who follows the law".
The ED's action follows a series of events beginning on May 6, when a high-profile raid was conducted at the apartment of Jahangir Alam, identified as the house help of Alamgir Alam's personal secretary, Sanjeev Lal. During the operation, a sum of over Rs 37 crore in cash was seized. Subsequently, both Alam and Lal were taken into custody post the raid.
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The genesis of the raids traces back to an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case involving Virendra K Ram, a former chief engineer of the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, was was arrested last year. This investigation was spurred by alleged irregularities in the implementation of certain schemes within the department.
The raid witnessed the deployment of counting machines to tally the unaccounted cash, primarily in the denomination of Rs500. The ED officials had also discovered a cache of jewellery during the search of Jahangir Alam's residence.
Alam, aged 70, had been summoned to depose at the zonal office of the ED in Ranchi on Tuesday to provide his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), preceding his arrest.
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