State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar on Tuesday said a “record” seizure of cash, liquor and drugs worth over Rs 110 crore was made from Jharkhand in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
"A staggering Rs 110.36 crore in cash, drugs, liquor and other items were seized in Jharkhand since the announcement of the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha polls," he added.
"This is the highest seizure amount so far in Jharkhand. In 2019, the cash recovery was only Rs 5 crore," the official said.
ED recovers over Rs 35 crore from top official's staff
The recovery includes a cash haul of around Rs 35 crore made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday during raids at several locations, including the premises of a domestic help of a secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam.
A cache of more than Rs 32 crore cash was seized from this minister-linked location apart from Rs 3 crore that was recovered by the central agency from some other premises being searched in the state as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the state rural development department, the sources said.
The ED has been probing this case since last year and has arrested a former chief engineer of the state rural development department.
Videos and photos shared by the sources showed officials of the agency emptying wads of currency notes from large bags in a 2BHK flat located at Gadikhana Chowk.
As many as eight note-counting machines were deployed by the agency apart from bank staff to ascertain the exact amount of currency that was majorly in the Rs 500 denomination. Personnel of central paramilitary forces stood guard at the building where the flat is located.
It is claimed that Jahangir Alam, a domestic help of Congress leader and Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam's personal secretary Sanjiv Lal, is residing at this location along with Lal, the sources said.
The keys to the premises where the cash was found were seized from Lal's flat, they said.
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