GUWAHATI: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Guwahati Zonal Office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth approximately ₹3.50 crore in a money laundering case linked to late Ranjit Kumar Borah, who served as Deputy Chief Electrical Engineer (Construction) with the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in Maligaon, Guwahati.
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According to an ED press release issued on August 22, the attached assets include a residential flat in Patna, Bihar, valued at approximately ₹3.28 crore and registered in the name of Sonal Jain, along with a term deposit of around ₹21.24 lakh maintained in her name with Canara Bank.
The money laundering investigation originated from an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018.
The CBI case alleged that Borah and others had demanded and accepted illegal gratification from private contractors in exchange for extending undue favours in the award and execution of NFR contracts. The CBI intercepted the delivery of the alleged bribe money on December 14, 2021, arrested the accused and subsequently filed a charge sheet.
During its investigation, the ED alleged that Borah had demanded and accepted bribes from Chintan Jain and Nayan Chandra Jain, proprietors of railway contracting firm M/s Sunshine, and had routed the alleged proceeds through them.
According to the ED, the alleged proceeds of crime were used to purchase a flat at Platinum Towers in Gurugram, Haryana, in the name of M/s Sunshine. The property was subsequently sold in 2024 for approximately ₹3.50 crore.
The ED further alleged that the sale proceeds were layered through bank accounts belonging to M/s Sunshine, Chintan Jain and his wife, Sonal Jain. The funds were subsequently used to repay home loans taken for the Patna flat and to create term deposits with Canara Bank in Sonal Jain’s name.
The ED said the properties now attached represent the re-investment and integration of the alleged proceeds of crime generated through the bribery transactions.
Ranjit Kumar Borah died on September 6, 2024, while the investigation was underway. The ED said that since attachment proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are proceedings in rem against the property involved, the attachment has been effected in the hands of the current holders of the properties.
Further investigation in the case is underway.