Alamgir Alam, jailed Jharkhand minister, resigns from state cabinet

According to an official, Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam, who is in jail in connection with a money laundering case, has resigned on 11 June from the state cabinet and also as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the state.

The official said that Alam tendered his resignation as a cabinet minister in a letter to chief minister Champai Soren written from Birsa Munda Central Jail, Ranchi.

Alam, in another letter to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, wrote, "I hereby submit my resignation from the post of leader of Congress Legislature Party, Jharkhand. I shall remain grateful to the party leadership for providing me an opportunity to work and serve as CLP leader."

The Enforcement Directorate had on 15 May arrested the Congress leader in a money laundering case, days after about Rs 32 crore cash was seized from premises linked to his aide.

The BJP, the opposition in the state last week demanded the removal of Alam from the Champai Soren cabinet.

The chief minister has taken charge of all four portfolios held by Alam — parliamentary affairs, rural development, rural works and panchayati raj.

The 70-year-old MLA from Pakur was taken into custody at the central agency's zonal office last month under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

He appeared on the ED's radar following the arrest of his personal secretary and state administrative service officer, Sanjeev Kumar Lal (52), and the latter's domestic help, Jahangir Alam (42).

During a raid, the agency seized more than Rs 32 crore in cash from a flat that has been linked to them.

The minister had earlier told reporters that he was a "law-abiding" citizen as he sought to distance himself from the activities of Lal, saying the administrative officer had worked with other ministers of the state government too in the past.

The money laundering investigation pertains to alleged irregularities in the state rural development department.

The ED had said that the names of several "senior bureaucrats and politicians" emerged in the case and this was being investigated.