On the second day of questioning in a money laundering case, Jharkhand Rural Development Minister and Congress politician Alamgir Alam was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday.

Sanjiv Kumar Lal, Mr. Alam's Officer on Special Duty, and Jahangir Alam, his domestic assistant, were detained by the CBI last week following the discovery of almost Rs 36 crore in cash in an apartment connected to them.

money laundering case
Source: The Week

The Pakur MLA, Mr. Alam, 70, was questioned for over ten hours on Tuesday after being invited to depose at the ED office to record his testimony under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The State Rural Development Department is the subject of the investigation because of purported irregularities. The raids on Mr. Lal's home and the domestic assistant were carried out in the course of the ongoing investigation into the money laundering case involving Virendra Ram, the former chief engineer of the Ministry of Rural Development.

CBI Detains Officials Amidst Money Laundering Case Probe

In relation to the investigation, the ED has seize a total of Rs 36.75 crore.

Mr. Alam had already disassociated himself from Mr. Lal's actions. Speaking with reporters, he claimed that the person had also worked with other state government ministries.

The Jharkhand BJP severely criticised the administration, claiming that the whole Cabinet of the state is still hidden. Like Alamgir Alam, there are a number of white-collar ministers embroiled in corruption cases, but all will soon come to light, according to Rajya Sabha MP and former head of the Jharkhand BJP Deepak Prakash.

Rakesh Sinha, the general secretary of the Jharkhand Congress and in charge of media relations, blasted the BJP and the Union government for Mr. Alam's arrest. He claimed that the arrest is the "final nail in the coffin of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government" and that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has lost the Lok Sabha election. Vinod Pandey, a spokesman for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, charged that the Modi administration was totalitarian.

Hemant Soren, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, is already incarcerated due to allegations of money laundering. The Champai Soren government has suffered a significant blow with the arrest of Mr. Alam. Mr. Alam will probably lose his position in the Cabinet following his detention. He is the Jharkhand government's second-in-command.

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