The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Guwahati Zonal Office, has provisionally attached six immovable properties valued at Rs 5.64 crore belonging to Indreswar Kalita, IAS, a former Secretary to the Government of Assam in the Excise Department, in connection with a money laundering investigation.
The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and follows a case registered by the Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell against Kalita under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
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According to the charge sheet filed by the vigilance cell, Kalita accumulated assets amounting to Rs 5.64 crore during the check period from March 1, 2000 to December 31, 2018 — representing 131.12 per cent more than his known income during that period.
The ED investigation found that Kalita had acquired several immovable properties either in his own name or in the names of his wife and other family members, who reportedly had no matching income sources to justify the purchases.
Investigators alleged that this arrangement was designed to conceal the actual ownership of the assets and the origin of the funds used to acquire them. Authorities also found that the value of some properties had been understated in registered sale deeds to mask the real sums involved.
The probe further revealed that between 2015 and 2018, Kalita constructed a G+4 commercial-cum-residential building through a partnership firm involving his wife and a relative — at a cost of approximately Rs 4.46 crore.
Investigators alleged that the partnership was largely nominal and was used to legitimise proceeds of crime through the construction project. After completion, the building reportedly began generating significant rental income, which was used to repay bank loans.
Financial analysis conducted during the investigation detected substantial unexplained cash deposits in bank accounts linked to the family — Rs 15.24 lakh in Kalita's account between 2006 and 2018, and Rs 16.92 lakh in his wife's account between 2012 and 2018.