GUWAHATI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Guwahati Zonal Office, has provisionally attached three immovable properties worth approximately ₹65.60 lakh in connection with a disproportionate assets case involving a Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official and his wife.
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According to an official press release issued on Saturday, May 9, the action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Hem Chandra Borah, Deputy Chief Engineer of NFR, and his wife Gayatree Saikia, a government school teacher at Bhaskar Bidyapith Higher Secondary School in Guwahati.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), AC-I, New Delhi. The case was filed under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Indian Penal Code for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
The CBI later filed a chargesheet before the competent court on March 25, 2025.
As per the ED, its investigation and scrutiny of the CBI chargesheet revealed that during the check period from April 1, 2016 to January 17, 2021, Hem Chandra Borah, allegedly in connivance with his wife, accumulated disproportionate assets amounting to around ₹73.76 lakh. The agency stated that the assets constituted nearly 86.88 per cent of their total legitimate income during the period under investigation.
The probe further alleged that the accused applied a systematic method to launder the proceeds of crime. Despite operating seven bank accounts between them, their combined ATM and UPI withdrawals reportedly amounted to only ₹1,36,894.
Investigators claimed this indicated that illicit cash allegedly received as gratification was used to meet day-to-day household expenses, while legitimate salary income remained preserved in bank accounts. The accumulated salary was then allegedly routed through cheque payments to acquire immovable properties and project them as untainted assets.
The ED said further investigation in the case is currently underway.