Jharkhand IAS officer Manish Ranjan appears before ED for questioning in money laundering case

Ranchi: Senior IAS officer Manish Ranjan on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a money laundering case in which the agency recently arrested Jharkhand Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam, official sources said.

Ranjan arrived at the ED office here around 11.15 am, they said.

Ranjan is a former secretary of the Rural Development department. He is currently the secretary of the Land, Road and Building department and had been asked to depose before the federal agency at its zonal office here on May 28.

The IAS officer had earlier been summoned to appear before the ED officials on May 24 but he skipped the summons and had sought more time.

The summons is linked to the ED investigation in which Congress leader and state Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam, his former personal secretary Sanjeev Kumar Lal and the latter's domestic help Jahangir Alam were arrested early this month.

The agency had claimed to have recovered more than Rs 32 crore from a place where Jahangir Alam was residing. The total cash seizure in this case is Rs 37.5 crore.

The probe pertains to alleged irregularities and bribes exchanged between officials and others from contractors working in the state rural development department.