arrested-jharkhand-minister-received-1-5-commission-in-tender-allocations-ed

Jharkhand Rural development minister Alamgir Alam, who was arrested on Wednesday used to receive 1.5 per cent commission in tender allocation by his department to contractors, stated the Enforcement Directorate in the remand petition submitted to Special PMLA court in Ranchi on Thursday.

ED today produced Alamgir Alam in the court and sought a 10-day remand for questioning. However, the court allowed only a six-day remand.

The ED has alleged that Alam was the main beneficiary in the tender allocation scam. “It was ascertained that the whole process of collection and distribution of commission was taken care of by the assistant engineers posted at the Rural Development Special Division and Rural Works Department. 

Further, it was found that Alam’s share was 1.5% of the allocated tender amount. In one of the instances it was also found that Alamgir Alam received his share of commission of Rs. 3 crores, which was sent by an Assistant Engineer in September 2022, a transaction facilitated by one of the close aides of Alamgir Alam,” said the ED in its petition.

The ED said that several official documents on the official letterheads and official letters were found with huge cash from the premise of Jahangir Alam, which would have been kept under the possession of Sanjeev Kumar Lal, PS to Alam, which establishes that Sanjeev Kumar Lal was using this premise for keeping documents/ records, cash and other belongings related to Minister Alamgir Alam.   

According to ED the role of Alamgir Alam was found to be crucial and pivotal in the investigation based upon the statement of witnesses and material collected and in possession of ED. Further, the proceeds of crime are collected and distributed in an organised manner and the share of the persons involved in the process is fixed for the kind of work they are involved in.