The seizure of nearly Rs 35 crore cash from the home of a domestic servant attached to the personal secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam on Monday raises serious questions. Enforcement Directorate staff raided multiple locations in Ranchi in connection with an old corruption and money laundering case, and stumbled upon wads of current notes stuffed inside bags and suitcases in the house of Jehangir Alam, a servant working for Sanjeev Lal, personal secretary to Jharkhand rural development minister Alamgir Alam. Currency note counting machines had to be brought in to ascertain the exact value of cash seized and the counting went on till late in the night. The seizure of cash comes a week ahead of the polling for Lok Sabha elections, slated for May 13. As visuals of “mountain load” of seized currency notes flashed on TV screens on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the opposition alliance in his election rallies. Modi said, the entire nation is watching that the Congress has not put an end to its “looting spree”, but each paisa of looted money will have to returned to the government. The Congress minister Alamgir Alam said, his PS Sanjeeb Lal “is a government employee and his services were provided to me by the department. He has been PS to two other ministers earlier.” He said, he had no personal relations with his PS and he had no knowledge whom the cash belonged to. But the most important point is, ED officials have found papers with the currency notes, which prove the minister’s link with cash transactions. Investigators said, they believed this was bribe money collected from transfers and posting of officers, and from allotment of tenders. The domestic servant Jehangir Alam’s monthly earning is hardly Rs 20,000, but more than 5,000 bundles of Rs 500 currency notes were reportedly recovered from his home. ED staff had raided six locations in Ranchi on Monday, and these included the premises of Jehangir Alam, a contractor Munna Singh, Road Construction department engineers Vikas Kumar and Kuldip Minz. Counting machines became hot after repetitive use by ED staff, and more machines had to be procured from banks to count the ill-gotten money. More than Rs 5 crore cash was seized from contractor Munna Singh’s premises. In neighbouring Odisha, while addressing an election rally, PM Narendra Modi said, “the shehzada of Congress will have to disclose how many such godowns full of cash have been concealed till now.” In Andhra Pradesh rally, Modi said, those who were crying hoarse about ED, are realling feeling the pinch after watching today’s visuals. The PM said, “Modi will now return this money to the national coffers”. Monday’s raids were part of a probe into earlier scams involving alleged money laundering by Rural Development department chief engineer Veerendra Ram. He was arrested in February last year and suspended. He had admitted tht he used to collect one to three per cent commission on road building and other tenders. ED had attached his properties worth several crores last year, and suspected that he was still involved in commission collection in government departments. In Monday’s search, several hand-written notes were found with cash relating to transfers and posting of Jharkhand government officers. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleged that the entire cash belonged to Alamgir Alam and it was collected through transfers and posting and commissions from contractors. In Sanskrit, there is an oft-repeated phrase “Pratakshyam Kim Pramanam” (Whatever visible does not require proof). The visuals are clear. Mounds of currency notes tumbling out of bags. No amlount of clarification or allegations by Congress will not hold water in this case. Jharkhand is a state rich in mineral and other natural resources, but most of the people in the state live below poverty level. But here we find leaders sleeping on wads of currency notes. Naturally, the questions will be asked: What is the source of this money? Whom does this cash belong to? Last year, nearly Rs 350 crore cash was seized from a Congress MP in Jharkhand. This time, crores of rupees worth cash was seized from the servation attached to the personal secretary of a Congress minister. Naturally BJP is going to make it a big issue. In more election rallies, Congress and opposition leaders will raise question about ED, and Modi will remind people about the “mountain load of cash” to voters. He will also say, looted money will have to be returned.
My Opinion > JHARKHAND CASH : CONGRESS HAS MUCH TO ANSWER
Archives
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015