New Delhi:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday summoned Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam in connection with the recovery of “unaccounted cash”, estimated to be over Rs 37 crore from the premises of the house help of his personal secretary.

Alamgir Alam, is the Rural Development Minister in Jharkhand

The senior Congress MLA has been asked to appear before the agency on May 14 at its zonal office in Ranchi.

Earlier on Monday, May 6, the Enforcement Directorate raided the apartment of Jahangir Alam, who is the house help of Alamgir Alam’s personal secretary Sanjeev Lal, and recovered over Rs 37 crore in cash. Both Alam and Lal were arrested after the raid.

The cash haul was part of raids at multiple locations in Ranchi by the probe agency.

During the raid, several counting machines were also brought in to count the unaccounted cash, which was mainly in the denomination of Rs 500. In addition, agency officials also recovered some jewellery from the flat of Jahangir Alam.

The 70-year-old Congress leader, Alamgir Alam, is the Rural Development Minister in Jharkhand and represents the Pakur seat in the state Assembly.

The raids were in connection with an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case against Virendra K Ram, former chief engineer of the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, who was arrested last year. It was linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of some schemes in the department.

In 2019, a huge amount of cash was recovered from one of Virendra K Ram’s subordinates. Later, the Enforcement Directorate took over the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act.

The money laundering case against Virendra K Ram stems from a complaint by the Jharkhand anti-corruption bureau (ACB).