ED conducts searches in case related to Assam govt funds' misappropriation

Bank and fixed deposits worth Rs 34 crore were attached under the anti-money laundering law following searches in a case related to alleged misappropriation of Assam government funds meant for the welfare of construction workers, the ED said on Saturday.

The case pertains to the "fraudulent" award of contracts worth Rs 118 crore during 2013-16 by the Assam Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (ABOCWWB) to a company named Purbashree Printing House, a proprietorship of Priyanshu Boiragi.

"It is a case of misappropriation of money collected as cess for the welfare of construction workers. During the searches, various incriminating documents and materials were seized," the federal agency said in a statement.

It did not say when the searches were conducted.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) added that it also attached "proceeds of crime" of Rs 34.03 crore in the form of bank and fixed deposits.

The money-laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell and charge sheets filed by police against Chohan Doley, an IAS officer and former labour commissioner-cum-ABOCWWB member secretary; Boiragi; ABOCWWB ex-chairman Gautam Baruwa; and former ABOCWWB administrative officer Nagendra Nath Choudhury.

The ED alleged that Choudhury "managed" to get "unreasonably high" value printing contracts from ABOCWWB through "forged and fraudulent" tendering processes.

"Boiragi invested the proceeds of crime of Rs 118 crore, generated out of government funds, in fixed deposit receipts in his name and routed the balance to various other bank accounts connected to him and to various shell entities," the ED claimed.