Former Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Ranchi Zonal Office, filed a fifth supplementary Prosecution Complaint on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) before the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Cases, Ranchi under sections 44 and 45 of the PMLA, 2002.
According to the official press statement, the complaint arrays 14 departmental engineers and officials of the Rural Works Department (RWD), Rural Development Special Zone (RDSZ), and Jharkhand State Rural Road Development Authority (JSRRDA), Government of Jharkhand, as fresh accused (Accused Nos. 23–36), taking the total number of accused across all Prosecution Complaints in this case to 36.
It further stated, the case originated from FIR No. 13/2019 registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Jamshedpur, under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018.
ED investigation established that a systematic commission/bribery racket was operating within the RWD/RDSZ/JSRRDA, whereby a fixed commission of 3% of the total tender value was collected from contractors in lieu of tender allotments.
As per ED, the commission was distributed hierarchically: 1.35% to the then Minister Alamgir Alam (through his Personal Secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal); 0.65–1% to the Departmental Secretary; and the balance to the Chief Engineers and their subordinate engineers.
Against total tender allotments of approximately ₹3,048 Crore, the total Proceeds of Crime (PoC) exceed ₹90 Crore.
ED stated that the 14 persons newly arrayed as accused include Chief Engineers (Retd.) 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.); and Assistant Engineers Ram Pukar Ram and Ramesh Ojha (both Retd.), as well as former Superintending Engineer/Engineer-in-Chief Umesh Kumar (Retd.).
Investigation established their active participation in collection, aggregation, and delivery of illegal commission amounts constituting Proceeds of Crime under Section 2(1)(u) of the PMLA.
ED asserted that so far the federal agency has conducted 52 searches under Section 17 of the PMLA across Jharkhand, Delhi, and Bihar; arrested nine persons (former Minister Alamgir Alam, his Personal Secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal, and associate Jahangir Alam remain in judicial custody).
It has also issued three Provisional Attachment Orders (PAOs) attaching properties valued at approximately ₹44 Crore (all confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority); and seized cash of approximately ₹38 Crore (including ₹32.20 Crore from premises linked to Sanjeev Kumar Lal and ₹2.93 Crore from Munna Singh) along with 8 luxury vehicles.
Earlier in this case, ED had filed one main PC and four supplementary PCs before the Court and cognisance of the same had been taken.
Published – March 19, 2026 03:15 am IST
