HC reserves order in bail plea of ex-min Alam
Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday reserved its order in a petition filed by former state rural development minister Alamgir Alam seeking bail pursuant to his arrest in the tender scam by the
Enforcement Directorate
(ED).
Alam, a four-time former Congress MLA from Pakur, has been in custody since May 15 last year after the ED had started investigatigating his involvement in facilitating tenders. The case was heard by Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad who after having heard the arguments of Alam and the ED, reserved the order. Alam, a cabinet minister during the previous JMM-Congress-RJD alliance govt, had to resign from his office as he came in the line of fire following the arrest department's chief engineer Virendra Ram by the ED for his involvement in money laundering.
Investigation revealed that Alam had provided tenders to selected companies and has received commissions for facilitating tenders.
The investigation culminated in raids being conducted by the ED in the properties of Ram in Delhi, Jamshedpur, Patna and Ranchi. Similarly, raids were also conducted in the premises of other engineers of the department including the residence of Sanjeev Lal, the personal secretary of Alamgir Alam.
In course of the raids conducted by the ED, the house of Jahangir Alam, a house help of Sanjeev, was also scanned. The raid in Jahangir Alam's house revealed possession of Rs 32 crores in cash. The investigating authorities then turned the heat on Alamgir Alam and connected the pieces concluding his involvement in accumulating huge amount of cash and stashing it in the house of his employees.
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