The ED discovered a substantial sum of money, estimated to be between Rs 20 and 30 crore, at the residence of Sanjiv Lal, Personal Secretary to Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam. The cash haul is expected to increase when more cash machines are deployed to begin counting.
The Directorate of Enforcement is a multidisciplinary organization tasked with investigating money laundering and breach of foreign exchange legislation. The Directorate’s statutory functions include the enforcement of the following acts:
- The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA): The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 aims to combat money laundering by implementing measures for detection, investigation, and prosecution.
- The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA): The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 regulates foreign exchange transactions in India to facilitate external trade and payments and promote orderly development.
- The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA): The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 allows authorities to confiscate properties of individuals who evade prosecution by fleeing the country after committing economic offenses involving over 100 crore rupees.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now raiding numerous places in Ranchi. In connection with the Virendra Ram case, Sanjiv Lal, the personal secretary of Jharkhand rural development minister Alamgir Alam, has retrieved a large sum of money from his household assistance.
The case pertains to the arrest of Virendra Ram, the chief engineer of the Jharkhand Rural Development Department. The agency detained him in February 2023 in a money laundering case including suspected anomalies in the execution of several schemes.
Ram has been accused of acquiring assets worth Rs 100 crore. He was caught last year, and officials allegedly discovered a pen drive holding transaction details involving some Jharkhand legislators. He was detained on February 21, 2023, after the agency conducted various searches in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, and a few other locations in Jharkhand, Bihar, and Delhi. Later, the officials took up the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Steps Taken By ED:
Virendra Ram was detained on February 21, 2023, after conducting various searches in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, and several other locations in Jharkhand, Bihar, and Delhi, according to ANI.
In 2019, the agency recovered a large sum of cash from one of his subordinates. Later, the authorities took up the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The recent raids, carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), targeted roughly half a dozen places associated with Virendra Ram, the former chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, and his inner circle.
Virendra Ram was arrested in February 2023 for money laundering.
The raid’s video footage shows a pile of cash notes spilled over a room apparently belonging to Sanjiv Lal, the personal assistant to Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam.
“Jharkhand’s corruption is far from over. This money during elections shows that there is a plan to spend it on elections. The Election Commission should act on this,” said Pratul Shahdev, Jharkhand BJP spokesperson.
The investigation agency is carrying out simultaneous raids at nine places, including Sail City in Ranchi. On Monday morning, a federal agency team searched Sail City for Vikas Kumar, an engineer from the Road Construction Department. Yet another ED team is carrying out raids in the Bariatu, Morhabadi, and Bodia localities.
Conclusion:
The increasing rates of corruption right before general elections speaks volumes about the condition of democracy in India. This will eventually undermine the free and fair nature of democracy and elections and will lead to the loss of confidence of the general public from the authorities. This is a different topic of discussion altogether.
