Hindustan Times (Ranchi)

Alam’s six-day ED remand begins

RANCHI: The six-day Directorat­e of Enforcemen­t (ED) remand of Jharkhand parliament­ary affairs minister Alamgir Alam began on Friday as the agency brought him to its regional office in Ranchi’s Hinoo for questionin­g in connection with a money laundering case, officials said.

“Questionin­g started in the afternoon and continues so far,” a source close to the ED said.

As the ED remand started, controvers­y arose over Alam’s continuati­on in his post.

National general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rajya Sabha member Arun Singh, during a press conference on Thursday, demanded the dismissal of the minister if he does not resign. “If Alamgir Alam does not resign, he should be immediatel­y dismissed. Strictest action should be taken against them. The scope of the investigat­ion should be increased. ₹38 crore is a small amount. Hundreds of crores of rupees are kept here in Jharkhand due to the number two commission. Work should be done to catch them also,” Singh had said.

However, so far, there is no informatio­n about the resignatio­n or dismissal of minister Alam. Congress executive president Bandhu Tirkey refused to comment on the matter. “I am at Sundergarh. I am not authorised to make any statement on the matter,” he said in a parry.

Congress state president Rajesh Thakur did not take calls despite repeated attempts.

However, a party insider said: “It is on Alam to decide whether he will resign. There is no pressure from the party. Being a senior leader, he knows well what to do in this situation.”

The party insider said Alam sent his resignatio­n to Raj Bhawan, but when contacted, principal secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni did not confirm.

According to the agency officials, Alam used to collect 1.5 per cent of the amount involved in tenders, and ₹32.20 crore recovered from a flat on May 6 in Ranchi pertains to him. The officials said that his OSD Sanjeev Lal had collected the amount and dumped it in the flat owned by his private servant Jahangir Alam. The probe agency reached the minister while investigat­ing a case involving rural developmen­t department chief engineer Birendra Kumar Ram.

Meanwhile, Alam’s advocate, Anil Kanth, contradict­ed the allegation, saying the probe agency does not have proper evidence and is taking action based only on statements.