Ranchi (IANS): The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) filed its fifth supplementary charge sheet in the Jharkhand Rural Works Department (RWD) money laundering case before the Special PMLA Court in Ranchi, the agency said on Wednesday.
The Ranchi Zonal Office filed the charge sheet on March 17 under Sections 44 and 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency named 14 engineers and officials from the Rural Works Department (RWD), Rural Development Special Zone (RDSZ), and the Jharkhand State Rural Road Development Authority (JSRRDA) as new accused.
With this filing, the total number of accused in the case has risen to 36 across all charge sheets.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Jamshedpur, initially registered the case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018.
According to the ED, its investigation uncovered a well-organised bribery network within the RWD, RDSZ, and JSRRDA. Officials allegedly collected a fixed commission of around 3 per cent of the total tender value from contractors in exchange for awarding contracts.
The agency said officials distributed the commission through a hierarchical chain. Around 1.35 per cent allegedly went to then Minister Alamgir Alam through his personal secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal, 0.65 to 1 per cent went to the departmental secretary, and the remaining share went to chief engineers and other officials.
The ED estimated that against total tender allocations of approximately Rs 3,048 crore, the proceeds of crime exceeded Rs 90 crore.
The newly named accused include retired Chief Engineers Singrai Tuti, Rajeev Lochan, Surendra Kumar, and Pramod Kumar; Executive Engineers Santosh Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Ajay Tirkey, Raj Kumar Toppo, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Siddhant Kumar, and Anil Kumar (Retd.); Assistant Engineers Ram Pukar Ram and Ramesh Ojha (both retired); and former Superintending Engineer/Engineer-in-Chief Umesh Kumar (Retd.).
The ED stated that its probe established their active roles in collecting, aggregating, and transferring illicit commission amounts, which qualify as proceeds of crime under the PMLA.
So far, the agency has conducted 52 searches across Jharkhand, Delhi, and Bihar and arrested nine individuals in connection with the case. Former minister Alamgir Alam, his personal secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal, and associate Jahangir Alam remain in judicial custody.
The ED has also issued three provisional attachment orders, attaching assets worth around Rs 44 crore, which the Adjudicating Authority has confirmed.
Additionally, the agency seized cash amounting to about Rs 38 crore, including Rs 32.20 crore from premises linked to Lal and Rs 2.93 crore from Munna Singh, along with eight luxury vehicles.
Earlier, the ED filed one main charge sheet and four supplementary charge sheets in the case, and the court has taken cognisance of all of them.
