Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths conducted a search operation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the matter of erstwhile Debutter Board Kamakhya case involving the management of Maa Kamakhya Temple at Kamrup (Guwahati), for alleged misappropriation of funds of Rs 7.62 crore by the former officials, ED sources said on Thursday.
Sources said that the Guwahati Zonal Office official conducted the search operation on Wednesday in the residential premises of former officials of the board under the PMLA, 2002 in connection with the Debutter Board Kamakhya, which was involved in the management of revered Maa Kamakhya Temple at Kamrup, near Assam’s Guwahati city.
The raid was carried out for the alleged misappropriation of funds by the officials of the now-defunct Kamakhya Debutter Board from 2003 to 2019 to the tune of around Rs 7.62 crore.
ED initiated an investigation on the basis of FIR registered by CID, Guwahati under various sections of IPC,1860 for misappropriation of funds of Rs 7.62 crore against officials of Kamakhya Debutter Board by way of transfer of funds to related entities and routing of the same to entities owned by official for their personal gains.
In order to siphon funds from ‘Ma Kamakhya Temple’, these former officials hired related/shell entities to supply materials like electrical goods, cement, cleaning chemicals, manpower and other services, the sources said.
The funds were then transferred to entities owned by the officials or taken out in cash. These officials mischievously resorted to splitting bills to keep value under Rs 50,000 so as to be compliant with court direction forbidding expense of larger amounts without permission of the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup.
On Wednesday, ED sleuths conducted search operations, under PMLA, 2002, at the residential premises of Riju Prasad Sarma, then Administrator Kamakhya Debutter Board, Dhiraj Sarma and Naba Kanta Sarma (both since deceased), the ex-officials of the then Debutter Board of Kamakhya in relation with generation of Proceeds of Crime (POC) connected with funds of Maa Kamakhya Temple.
The search actions by ED have resulted in the seizure of insurance policies worth around Rs 1.82 crore taken out in the name of officials of Kamakhya Debutter Board and their family members.
Further, documents related to immovable properties and business entities of officials of the Kamakhya Debutter Board and their family members have been seized. Besides, more than 27 bank accounts of various related persons have surfaced during searches.
Further investigation is under progress, the sources added.
(IANS)
