The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth around ₹3.50 crore in connection with an alleged bribery case involving former Deputy Chief Electrical Engineer of the Northeast Frontier Railway, Ranjit Kumar Borah. According to the agency, the attached assets include a residential flat in Patna valued at around ₹3.28 crore in the name of Sonal Jain and a term deposit of approximately ₹21.24 lakh with Canara Bank, also held in her name.
The ED initiated its money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The FIR named Ranjit Kumar Borah and others and invoked provisions relating to criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The allegations stated that the railway official had demanded and accepted illegal gratification in return for providing undue benefits to private contractors in the award and execution of contracts for the Northeast Frontier Railway.
The CBI had intercepted the alleged delivery of the bribe money on December 14, 2021, and arrested the accused in the case. The investigating agency subsequently filed a chargesheet in 2022. The ED then began examining the alleged proceeds of crime and the manner in which the money was subsequently used to acquire or finance assets.
Alleged Bribes Taken From Railway Contractors
According to the ED investigation, Ranjit Kumar Borah allegedly demanded and received bribes from Chintan Jain and Nayan Chandra Jain, who were associated with the railway contractor firm Sunshine. The agency has alleged that the proceeds of the alleged crime were subsequently routed through various transactions, properties and bank accounts.
The investigation found that a flat in Platinum Towers in Gurugram, Haryana, had allegedly been purchased using the proceeds of the alleged bribe. According to the ED, the property was sold in 2024 for around ₹3.50 crore. The proceeds from the sale were subsequently routed through bank accounts linked to Sunshine, Chintan Jain and his wife Sonal Jain.
Money Used to Repay Patna Home Loan
The ED has alleged that the money was subsequently used to repay the home loan taken for a residential flat in Patna and to create a term deposit in the name of Sonal Jain with Canara Bank.
According to the agency, the assets provisionally attached in the case represent the alleged reinvestment and integration of proceeds of crime into other financial assets. Investigators examined records related to the purchase and sale of properties, movement of funds through bank accounts and the eventual utilisation of the money.
The agency is also tracing the financial trail to establish how the alleged bribe proceeds moved through different accounts and transactions before being used for the Patna property and bank deposit.
Railway Official Died During Investigation
According to the ED, Ranjit Kumar Borah died in 2024 while the investigation was underway. However, proceedings against properties allegedly connected to the proceeds of crime have continued.
The agency said that under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), attachment proceedings are directed against property allegedly connected with proceeds of crime rather than being dependent solely on the continued existence of the person accused in the predicate offence.
Accordingly, the assets currently held in the names of other persons have been provisionally attached after investigators allegedly traced them to the reinvestment of proceeds linked to the bribery case.
The ED is continuing to examine the source of the alleged bribe money, its movement through various bank accounts and its subsequent investment in properties and financial instruments. Investigators are also looking into the role of other individuals and entities who may have been involved in handling or transferring the alleged proceeds of crime.
The agency is further examining whether financial transactions were used to project the alleged illegal proceeds as legitimate assets and to establish the complete trail of funds involved in the case.
