Alamgir Alam, jailed in connection with a money laundering case, has resigned as a cabinet minister in the Jharkhand government and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, his son Tanveer Alam said.
According to Tanveer Alam, his father resigned on June 8 (Saturday), and his resignation letter was sent to the Chief Minister's Office on that day. The letter reached Chief Minister Champai Soren's office on Monday.
However, the letter was yet to reach the Jharkhand Congress office in Ranchi.
Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur also confirmed that Alamgir Alam had resigned as CLP leader and cabinet minister.
On May 15, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Alamgir Alam after he was questioned by the probe agency officials in the money laundering case. It came after the agency 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 on May 6. Both Alam and Lal were arrested after the raid.
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.
A few days back, Champai Soren had taken over the four portfolios -- parliamentary affairs, rural development, rural works and panchayati raj -- that were held by Alamgir Alam before his arrest.
The 70-year-old leader is an MLA from the Pakur assembly seat.
BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo slammed Alamgir Alam for not resigning earlier after the cash was unearthed by the ED from his house help's residence.
"He had crossed every limit of shamelessness. A tender scam of Rs 3,000 crore was unearthed in his department. He was arrested but did not resign. Later, when the BJP raised the issue of the facilities that he was receiving and how taxpayers’ money was getting wasted, he resigned under pressure. He has been exposed," he told news agency PTI.
