ED: Assets worth Rs 4.42 crore of people associated with former Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam attached, chargesheet filed

As part of its probe into a money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth more than Rs 4 crore belonging to former Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam, his former personal secretary, and their domestic assistance.

According to a statement released on Saturday, the agency issued a provisional attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on July 4 against Alamgir Alam, his former PS Sanjeev Kumar Lal, Lal's wife Rita Lal, and domestic help Jahangir Alam.

The total value of all these properties registered under attachment is Rs 4.42 crore. The agency said that the chargesheet against these accused, except Rita Lal, was also filed in a special PMLA court in Ranchi on Thursday. In this case, the ED had arrested Lal and Jahangir Alam, besides Congress leader and former Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam.

On May 6, the ED raided the houses of Sanjeev Kumar Lal and Jahangir Alam and recovered a total of Rs 32.2 crore from a flat in their name. In this case, a total of Rs 37.55 crore in cash has been seized, besides four-wheelers and two-wheelers, jewellery and digital devices.

The agency had said that the investigation relates to alleged irregularities in the state's Rural Development Department, which was once headed by Alamgir Alam.

The ED claimed that the investigation found that 3.2 per cent of the total tender value for tender allocation was charged from contractors, which was distributed in a mechanized manner from top to bottom in the Rural Works Department of the Jharkhand government. Which also includes a commission of about 1.5 per cent for Minister (former) Alamgir Alam.