Guwahati, April 11 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint before a special PMLA court in Guwahati against former officials of the National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) and private contractors in connection with an alleged bribery and money laundering case linked to border infrastructure contracts worth approximately Rs 60.30 crore, officials said on Saturday.
According to an official statement, the complaint names Rakesh Mohan Kotwal, retired Zonal Manager (North East Region) of NPCC Ltd., Latiful Pasha, officer-in-charge of Jalpaiguri Project Office, along with Anish Baid and Binod Singhi, directors of M/s Shree Gautam Construction Company Limited, among others.
The case relates to contracts awarded by NPCC on behalf of the Border Security Force for the construction of nine Border Out Posts along the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had earlier filed a charge sheet in November 2021 against nine accused persons under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Investigations revealed that Kotwal and Pasha allegedly demanded illegal gratification of about Rs 33 lakh, later settled at Rs 30 lakh, from a contractor for releasing pending bills amounting to approximately Rs 2.24 crore.
The investigation further found that Rs 25 lakh was routed through hawala channels spanning Silchar, Guwahati and Delhi. A portion of the funds was also transferred through bank accounts to a distributor firm before being converted into cash and delivered in Delhi, where the CBI intercepted the transaction and recovered the amount in July 2019.
Additionally, Rs 15 lakh in alleged proceeds of crime was recovered from a showroom in Silchar, where it had been kept on instructions of one of the accused.
The ED said that evidence indicates that similar demands for bribes were made from other contractors as well. Further investigation into the case is ongoing.