New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that former Jharkhand rural development minister Alamgir Alam coerced and compelled the department’s chief engineer to collect a “commission” from each tender.
In the prosecution complaint filed before a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi, the ED said, Alamgir Alam and his aides “generated proceeds of crime” up to Rs 56 crore, ThePrint has learnt.
The complaint, accessed by ThePrint, presents fresh details in the ED’s money laundering case against the Congress leader.
The federal probe agency alleged that the chief engineer—the senior-most engineer who makes the final decision on the department’s tenders—was pressured to collect about 3 percent of each contract approved by the rural development department. At least 1.35 percent of that “commission” was then cornered by aides on Alamgir Alam’s behalf, with the rest being shared among engineers and civil servants.
Alamgir Alam has been languishing in jail since the ED arrested him on 15 May. In June, less than a month after his arrest, he resigned as a cabinet minister and as the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the Jharkhand Assembly.
The four-time MLA has not been named as a candidate by the Congress, which is part of the ruling alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, in the state elections. Instead, his wife Nishat is the party candidate from his bastion of Pakur.
ACB & Delhi Police FIRs
The ED’s case against Alamgir Alam stems from two First Information Reports (FIRs)—the first was filed by the Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2019 and the second by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) in 2023.
The Jharkhand ACB had filed a chargesheet against Suresh Prasad Verma, a resident of Jamshedpur, and his tenant Alok Ranjan. It recovered Rs 2.67 crore in this case.
Based on the ACB’s chargesheet, the ED filed an Enforcement Complaint Information Report (ECIR) in 2020 alleging that the money recovered from Alok Ranjan was part of the “commission” extracted from the rural development department by then chief engineer Veerendra Kumar Ram.
Separately, based on ED input, the Delhi Police EOW also booked chartered accountant Mukesh Mittal, who was helping Ram in routing proceeds of the crime into bank accounts of the then chief engineer’s family members and relatives.
In May, the ED carried out a series of searches on premises linked to Alamgir Alam’s private secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal, domestic help Jahangir Alam, and real estate aide Munna Singh, who was allegedly collecting a commission on Lal’s behalf.
In the prosecution complaint filed in July, it alleged that the Rs 32.20 crore seized during searches at Jahangir Alam’s residence in Ranchi belonged to Lal, who had stashed the cash at the former minister’s behest.
The agency said it seized Rs 37.55 crore in cash during the searches carried out over three days between 6 and 8 May. It said both Ram and Alamgir Alam’s secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal, in their statements, given under Section 50 of the PMLA, agreed that a “commission” of 3 to 4 percent of the total tender value awarded to contractors for projects carried out by the department was extracted.
The ED further alleged, in the prosecution complaint, that “Alamgir Alam is found to be directly indulged and actually involved in possession and concealment of at least Rs 35 crores of the Proceeds of Crime through Sanjeev Kumar Lal and he has also found to be directly indulged and actually involved in acquisition and concealment of at least Rs. 56 crores of the Proceeds of Crime.”
Damning statements gainst Congress leader
While then chief engineer Veerendra Kumar Ram allegedly said that Alamgir Alam received approximately 1.5 percent of the overall “commission” generated from the tenders, Lal alleged he collected “commission” of 1.35 percent of the total value of the tender on the leader’s behalf.
Another top engineer of the department gave details about the distribution of the “commission” in his statement. The ED quoted the statement given by then executive engineer Rajkumar Toppo, also recorded under section 50 of the PMLA, to back the allegations that at least 3 percent commission was collected and then distributed shared with Alamgir Alam and top officials of the department.
In May, after Alamgir Alam’s arrest, ThePrint reported that the ED informed the PMLA court that all officials from “top to bottom” were involved in the commission ‘scandal’.
In his statement, Lal allegedly explained how the commission was collected on the former minister’s behalf. The private secretary said Alamgir Alam’s close friend Munna Singh and domestic help Jahangir Alam were heavily involved—a charge they allegedly reinforced in their own statements to the ED. It appeared that premises linked to the domestic help, Jahangir Alam, were being used as a safe house for Alamgir Alam, the ED alleged.
“Apart from huge cash, several documents including letters on official letterheads were found from the premises of Jahangir Alam, which were kept there on the instructions of, and under the possession of Sanjeev Kumar Lal, as PS to Alamgir Alam RDD minister, which clearly establishes that Sanjeev Kumar Lal was using the said premise of Jahangir Alam as a safe house for keeping cash, documents/ records and other belongings related to Minister Alamgir Alam and himself,” it said in the prosecution complaint.
The Jharkhand elections will be held 13 and 20 November, while the counting of votes scheduled 23 November. Pakur, where Alam’s wife is contesting against All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU)’s Azhar Islam, will vote in the second phase.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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Pretty sure he must have donated generously to the Waqf Board too.