Assam: ED files chargesheet in Rs 60 crore border projects bribery case

Guwahati: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint before a Special Court in Assam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an alleged Rs 60.30-crore bribery and money laundering case linked to border infrastructure projects along the Indo-Bangladesh frontier.

The complaint, submitted by the agency’s Guwahati Zonal Office, names several individuals, including serving and retired officials of National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC), along with directors of a private construction firm and associated entities.

Those named include Rakesh Mohan Kotwal, former Zonal Manager (Northeast Region) of NPCC; Latiful Pasha, Officer-in-Charge of the Jalpaiguri Project Office, Anish Baid and Binod Singhi, directors of M/s Shree Gautam Construction Company Ltd., and Sunil Kumar, among others linked to associated business entities, including M/s Jaichand Lal Singhi.

According to the ED, the case relates to contracts awarded by NPCC on behalf of the Border Security Force (BSF) for the construction of nine Border Out Posts (BOPs) along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

The agency alleged that Kotwal and Pasha demanded a bribe of Rs 33 lakh—later negotiated to Rs 30 lakh, from contractor Anish Baid for clearing pending bills amounting to around Rs 2.24 crore.

The investigation, initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), uncovered a money trail involving the movement of Rs 25 lakh through suspected hawala channels operating across Silchar, Guwahati and Delhi.

Funds were allegedly routed through accounts linked to Shree Gautam Construction Company Ltd. and M/s Jaichand Lal Singhi before being transferred to M/s Vinit Distributors. The CBI had intercepted the transaction on July 14, 2019, at a hotel in Delhi, where Rs 25 lakh in cash was allegedly being handed over to Sunil Kumar. The amount was seized.

In a related development, the ED said an additional Rs 15 lakh in cash was recovered from a Hyundai showroom in Silchar, where it was allegedly kept at the direction of Binod Singhi.

The agency further alleged that the accused officials had sought illegal gratification from multiple contractors involved in NPCC projects in the region, indicating a broader pattern of corruption.

All accused have been booked under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which carries penalties under Section 4. The ED said further investigation is underway to identify the full extent of the alleged network and any additional beneficiaries.