Ranchi, Oct 24 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has named eight more accused in its fourth supplementary prosecution complaint (PC) filed before the Special PMLA Court, Ranchi, in connection with the Jharkhand tender scam case, allegedly linked to former state minister Alamgir Alam, an official said on Friday.

The Ranchi Zonal Unit of the ED filed the fresh supplementary complaint on Wednesday as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation into a large-scale corruption syndicate operating within the Rural Works Department of the Jharkhand government.

“This supplementary complaint arraigns eight new accused persons — including contractors, aides, and family members of officials — for their active role in the generation, handling, and laundering of proceeds of crime,” the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.

With the inclusion of these names, the total number of accused in the case has now risen to 22, the agency added.

The ED had arrested Alamgir Alam on May 15 last year in connection with the alleged commission racket linked to the department’s tender process.

Earlier, on May 6, the agency had carried out extensive raids at the premises of Alam’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sanjeev Lal, his domestic help Jahangir Alam, and several contractors.

The searches led to the seizure of over Rs 35 crore in cash, including Rs 30 crore from Jahangir Alam’s residence, Rs 2.93 crore from contractor Munna Singh, and Rs 2.14 crore from contractor Rajiv Singh.

Investigations indicated a widespread commission racket in tender allotments, with a substantial portion of the kickbacks allegedly funnelled back to Alamgir Alam.

A senior Congress leader, Alam served as a cabinet minister in the Hemant Soren and Champai Soren governments, as well as the Congress Legislature Party leader in the Jharkhand Assembly. He resigned from both positions following his arrest.

–IANS

rch/pgh