Ranchi, March 18: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a fifth supplementary prosecution complaint in a money laundering case linked to the Rural Works Department of Jharkhand. This was presented before a special PMLA court in Ranchi under sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The complaint includes 14 engineers and officials from the Rural Works Department (RW&D), the Rural Development Special Area (RDSA), and the Jharkhand State Rural Road Development Authority as new accused.
With this addition, the total number of accused in the case has risen to 36. The case is associated with the Anti-Corruption Bureau and was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018.
The ED’s investigation revealed a well-organized commission racket within the department, where approximately 3% of the total value was collected as a commission from contractors in exchange for tender allocations. This amount was distributed according to a hierarchy: 1.35% went to the then minister Alamgir Alam through his private secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal, 0.65% to 1% to the departmental secretary, and the remaining amount to chief and subordinate engineers. Over ₹90 crore in illegal earnings (proceeds of crime) has been identified against tender allocations worth approximately ₹3,048 crore.
The new accused include retired Chief Engineer Singrai Tuti, Rajiv Lochan, Surendra Kumar, and Pramod Kumar, along with Executive Engineers Santosh Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Ajay Tirkey, Raj Kumar Toppo, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Siddhant Kumar, and retired Anil Kumar. Additionally, retired Assistant Engineers Ram Pukar Ram and Ramesh Ojha, as well as former Superintending Engineer/Engineer-in-Chief Umesh Kumar, are implicated. Their roles were found in the collection, aggregation, and distribution of illegal commissions.
So far, the investigation agency has conducted searches at 52 locations across Jharkhand, Delhi, and Bihar, arresting nine individuals, including Alamgir Alam, Sanjeev Kumar Lal, and Jahangir Alam. During this process, three provisional attachment orders were issued, leading to the seizure of assets worth approximately ₹44 crore, the recovery of around ₹38 crore in cash, and the confiscation of eight luxury vehicles. Previously, the ED had filed one main prosecution complaint and four supplementary complaints, all of which the court has acknowledged.
My name is Himanshu Tiwari. I am an experienced content writer with several years of expertise in the field. Currently, I contribute to Daily Kiran, creating engaging and informative content across a variety of categories including TECHNOLOGY, health, travel, education, and automobiles. My goal is to deliver accurate, insightful, and captivating information through my words to help readers stay informed and empowered.
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