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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo accused the Congress on Monday of complicity in black money operations after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered over Rs 20 crore from the household help of Sanjiv Lal, Personal Secretary to Jharkhand Rural Development Minister and Congress leader, Alamgir Alam.
Deo called for immediate action from the Election Commission. He said that the large sum could be linked to attempts to influence the voting process in the ongoing elections. "The Election Commission should take cognizance. The recovery of over Rs 25 crore during the elections suggests that this black money might have been intended to influence the voting process. Once again, this shows 'Congress Ka Hath Kale Dhan Ke Sath' (Congress's involvement with black money)," Deo said. Deo further called for the swift arrest and interrogation of Alamgir Alam to uncover the source and intent behind the seized funds. "The endless story of corruption in the Jharkhand government shows no signs of ending. Just a few days ago, Rs 300 crore in cash was recovered from the house and office of a Congress MP (Dheeraj Sahu). More than Rs 10 crore was recovered from the residence of the associates of Pankaj Mishra, a close associate of the Chief Minister. Now, from the house of the Personal Secretary of Minister, Alamgir Alam, more than Rs 25 crore has been recovered. Alamgir Alam should be taken into custody immediately, he should be strictly interrogated and the connection to this money should be investigated by ED," Deo said. Income tax officials on December 12 concluded an IT raid at Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu's premises in Odisha's Balangir. According to sources, more than Rs 280 crore cash had been recovered from Dheeraj Sahu's Balangir's premises alone. Meanwhile, Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said, "They are all 'lootera'. Be it the family of Lalu Prasad Yadav or Shibu Soren, they have done the work of looting the country. When the government takes action against them, they will obviously feel hurt." The Directorate of Enforcement is conducting raids at multiple locations in the Ranchi district of Jharkhand today. Earlier in the day, the agency recovered more than Rs 20 crore from the household help of Sanjiv Lal - Personal Secretary to Jharkhand Rural Development Minister and Senior Congress leader from the state, Alamgir Alam. The counting is still going on and the raid in different locations is still underway. The raids are part of an ongoing investigation related to the case involving Virendra K. Ram, the chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, who was arrested in February 2023 in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of government schemes. In 2019, a huge amount of cash was recovered from one of his subordinates. Later, the ED took over the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. ED arrested Virendra K Ram, the chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, in February 2023 in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of some schemes. In addition to the raid at the residence of Sanjiv Lal's household help, the ED has also carried out searches at other locations in Ranchi. One such location is the residence of Vikas Kumar, an engineer in the Road Construction Department. (ANI)
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