Assam: ED files charges in Rs 60 crore border bribery case against construction firm, others

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint before a Special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Assam 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, filed by the Guwahati Zonal Office of the agency, names several individuals, including retired and serving officials of National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC), along with directors of a private construction firm and associated entities.

Among those named are Rakesh Mohan Kotwal, former Zonal Manager (Northeast Region), NPCC Ltd.; 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, along with other linked business entities, including M/s Jaichand Lal Singhi.

According to the ED, the case pertains 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 illegal gratification of ₹33 lakh, later negotiated to ₹30 lakh, from Anish Baid for the release of pending bills amounting to approximately ₹2.24 crore.

The investigation, initiated on the basis of a First Information Report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), traced a money trail involving the movement of ₹25 lakh through alleged hawala channels operating across Silchar, Guwahati and Delhi.

Funds were reportedly 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 intercepted the transaction on July 14, 2019, at a hotel in Delhi, where ₹25 lakh in cash was allegedly being handed over to Sunil Kumar. The entire amount was seized.

In a related recovery, the ED stated that an additional ₹15 lakh in cash was seized from a Hyundai showroom in Silchar, where it had allegedly been kept at the direction of Binod Singhi.

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

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