Jharkhand: ED arrests chief engineer, gets five-day demand
Veerendra Kumar Ram has been arrested in a case ED had registered on September 17, 2020, on the basis of a case lodged by Jharkhand’s ACB on November 11, 2019.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday arrested a top government engineer in Jharkhand for alleged money laundering following search operations at multiple locations linked to him across three states over the past two days.
Veerendra Kumar Ram, chief engineer of the rural development department, was later produced before a special court for money laundering cases in state capital Ranchi, which sent him to five-day ED custody.
“ED sought his remand for 10 days, but we opposed the demand on several grounds, including his health condition. The court has directed for his daily medical check-up and permission to the counsel to meet him for half an hour every day,” said Vikrant Sinha, Ram’s counsel.
Ram has been arrested in a case ED had registered on September 17, 2020, on the basis of a case lodged by Jharkhand’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on November 11, 2019.
The ACB had registered the case after it caught Suresh Prasad Verma, a junior engineer in the road construction department, allegedly taking a bribe of ₹10,000 from a contractor in Jamshedpur. In related action, ACB had subsequently seized ₹2.67 crore from a flat owned by Verma, which was occupied by his tenant Alok Ranjan, who turned out to be a cousin of Veerendra Ram.
ED has charged Ram with laundering unaccounted cash with the help of a chartered accountant, which were routed into the bank accounts of Ram and his family members through fictitious entries, besides using laundered money to purchase property at prime locations in New Delhi, Jamshedpur and Ranchi and purchasing luxury vehicles.
“...Huge amounts have been revealed received in the back accounts of relatives of Veerendra Kumar Ram, first in the joint account of Ram and Rajkumari Devi (his wife) to the tune of ₹9.30 crore approximately between financial years 2014-15 to 2018-19 and also in the account of Genda Ram (his father) to the tune of ₹4.5 crore in a span of 31-32 days from 21/12/22 to 23/1/23,” ED said in its plea seeking Ram’s remand, which has been seen by HT.
In its plea, ED said it had recovered ₹40 lakh in cash and jewellery worth ₹1.51 crore from premises related to Ram.
Some of the properties of Ram, according to ED, are located in prime residential colonies such as Defence Colony, Saket and Chhatarpur in New Delhi, two duplexes in Jamsedhpur and a land parcel in Ranchi.
Ram and his family members have also been found in possession of at least seven luxury cars, including two Audi cars, two Toyota Fortuner SUVs, one Toyota India and a Skoda.
“...During the investigation, names of senior bureaucrats and politicians have emerged, which are being investigated by ED,” the agency said in its plea for Ram’s remand.