The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money‑laundering complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in a special court in Assam, alleging a major corruption and illegal fund‑movement scheme worth about 60.30 crore rupees linked to an India–Bangladesh border infrastructure project. The probe targets several current and former officials of the National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC) and directors of private construction firms. Named accused include Rakesh Mohan Kotwal, former general manager of NPCC’s northeast zone; Latiful Pasha, in‑charge officer at the Jalpaiguri project office; Aneesh Baid, director of Messrs Sri Gautam Construction Company Ltd.; and Binod Singhi, among others.
According to the ED, the case arises from contracts awarded by NPCC to build nine border outposts (BOPs) for the Border Security Force (BSF). The agency alleges that Kotwal and Pasha demanded bribes to clear pending bills totalling 2.24 crore rupees for a contractor, first seeking 33 lakh rupees and later arranging another 30 lakh rupees by way of corrupt understanding. The investigation, which began on the basis of a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), uncovered evidence of illicit cash flows funneled through an active hawala network operating between Silchar, Guwahati and New Delhi. (A hawala network is an informal value‑transfer system used to move money outside formal banking channels.)
The ED says its probe recovered cash during separate operations. On July 14, 2019, the CBI reportedly seized 25 lakh rupees from a man named Sunil Kumar at a Delhi hotel during a handover. The ED subsequently recovered an additional 15 lakh rupees from a Hyundai showroom in Silchar; department sources say those funds had been hidden on the instructions of accused Binod Singhi. Investigators further allege that the accused used similar extortionary practices on several other contractors in the region, painting a picture of systemic corruption around the NPCC projects.
All accused have been booked under Section 3 of the PMLA, which deals with the offence of money‑laundering, and the ED has moved the special court in Assam with the case. The agency’s filings mark a significant escalation in enforcement action over alleged graft in government border‑infrastructure contracts, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Original Source: https://assam.nenow.in/assam-border-project-bribery-case/
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Publish Date: 2026-04-12 21:41:00
