A day before the visit of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to Jharkhand for campaigning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday carried out a massive raid in a tender scam case recovering a huge amount to the tune of ₹25 Crore.
However, the cash has been recovered from twin premises with the domestic help of Sanjiv Lal, PS to Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam of the Congress, it has just given some goosebumps to the Congress camp and minister in particular.
The sources in the ED confided that the cash and documents were seized from the premises of Jahangir Alam who stays with Sanjiv Lal as his domestic help.
It is also said that Sanjiv Lal had rented/purchased both houses for Jahangir Alam and even keys to both houses were recovered from the residence of Sanjiv Lal.
As per the information the ED conducted raids at six places in Ranchi, the city capital of Jharkhand, against Sanjiv Lal, his servant and an engineer named Vikas Kumar.
The ED investigation of the tender scam has revealed a money laundering racket worth over Rs 100 Crore in the rural development department where the role of the minister is allegedly said to be not above suspicion.
Besides, several MLAs, contractors and tender mafias are under the scanner of the agency. Interestingly, the name of Alamgir Alam surfaced in the Barharwa toll plaza scam which the ED had taken up for investigation (later on known as mining scam) and unearthed scam worth over ₹1200 Crore.
Besides, some papers and documents signed by Minister Alamgir Alam have also been recovered from the premises of domestic help.
This includes numerous correspondences between the ED and the minister as well as the department where the agency had asked the department to lodge FIRs against the billionaire chief engineer of the rural development department and mastermind of the tender scam named Virendra Ram.
Besides, several numbers of classified documents of the department were recovered from unauthorized possession of the domestic help.
“Counting of cash is going on. This is a slush money…part of cut and commission and this money goes up also. There are some golden ornaments and official documents as well which were found during the raid,” sources confided.
Notably, the ED took the investigation of an ordinary trap case against Suresh Verma lodged by the state vigilance bureau in the year 2019 involving a mere amount of ₹10000.
The ED blew the lid upon a mega tender scam and arrested Virendra Ram. He accepted that tenders of the department were awarded to some selected companies and contractors in place of commission and he used to get 0.3-1 per cent as commission.
However, corruption in the department was a public secret, but common people came to know about his jaw-dropping ill-gotten assets and luxuries only after the ED arrested him.
The seizure has come at a time when Jharkhand has geared up for a fierce electoral battle. The JMM-led INDI alliance is trying to barricade the BJP here. Corruption is the key electoral plank of the BJP against the JMM and the Congress.
It has been raising issues of mining, land and tender scams. Hemant Soren had to resign as Chief Minister of Jharkhand and he was arrested by the ED in the land scam case.
In the mining scam as well, his close aide Pankaj Mishra was arrested and ED has named Soren as beneficiary.
As per the Congress sources Rahul Gandhi is coming to Jharkhand to address an election rally at Basia locality in the Gumla district of Jharkhand which is part of the Lohardaga parliamentary seat.
BJP launches barbed offensive
The BJP has mounted a blistering attack connecting the cash with the Congress.
“The Congress needs to explain whether this slush fund was meant for the party’s campaigning. Rahul Gandhi pretends that his party has become cash-strapped. The fact is that cash is safely placed in the possession of the minion of the minister. Everyone knows from where such cash comes from…corruption called a tender scam and everyone knows who in the department is presiding over this scam,” Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said.
The party claimed that Sanjiv Lal was the collection agent acting on behalf of the minister.
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