ED Freezes ₹3.5 Crore Assets Linked to Former NFR Deputy Chief Electrical Engineer

New Delhi, August 23: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has temporarily seized assets worth ₹3.5 crore linked to the late Ranjit Kumar Borah and others. Borah previously served as the Deputy Chief Electrical Engineer at the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in Maligaon, Guwahati.

In a press release issued on Saturday, the ED revealed that the seized assets include a residential flat in Patna, Bihar, registered under Sonal Jain’s name, valued at approximately ₹3.28 crore, and a term deposit of around ₹21.24 lakh at Canara Bank.

The investigation was initiated based on an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), AC-I, New Delhi. This FIR was registered against Ranjit Kumar Borah and others under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (amended in 2018).

The allegations state that Borah solicited and accepted illegal bribes in exchange for unfair advantages to private contractors in awarding and executing contracts for the Northeast Frontier Railway. The CBI intercepted the delivery of the bribe amount on December 14, 2021, leading to the arrest of the accused and the filing of a charge sheet in 2022.

The ED’s investigation uncovered that Ranjit Kumar Borah demanded and accepted bribes from Chintan Jain and Nayan Chandra Jain, owners of the railway contractor firm Sunshine. The proceeds from the crime were reportedly used to purchase a flat in Platinum Towers, Gurugram, Haryana, under the name of Sunshine.

Further inquiry revealed that this flat was sold in 2024 for approximately ₹3.5 crore. The proceeds from the sale were funneled through bank accounts belonging to Sunshine, Chintan Jain, and his wife. These funds were ultimately used to repay a home loan taken for the Patna residential flat and to create a fixed deposit in Sonal Jain’s name at Canara Bank.

The seized assets reflect the reinvestment and integration of funds obtained through criminal activities by the late Ranjit Kumar Borah. He passed away on September 6, 2024, during the investigation. Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the seizure proceedings are directed against properties linked to the crime, leading to action against the current owner of the assets.