Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a prosecution complaint before a special PMLA court here against former National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) officials and private contractors in a bribery and money laundering case linked to the construction of nine border out posts along the Indo-Bangladesh frontier at a cost of Rs 60.30 crore.According to a statement from ED, investigations revealed that a retired zonal manager (northeast region) of NPCC and an officer-in-charge of the Jalpaiguri project office allegedly demanded illegal gratification of Rs 33 lakh and then later settled at Rs 30 lakh, from a contractor for clearing pending bills of about Rs 2.24 crore.Of this, Rs 25 lakh was routed through hawala channels spanning Silchar, Guwahati and Delhi, before being converted into cash and intercepted by the CBI in Jul 2019. Another Rs 15 lakh was recovered from a showroom in Silchar, allegedly kept on instructions of one of the accused. The ED said evidence points to similar demands from other contractors as well, suggesting a wider pattern of corruption in border infrastructure projects.
