Staff Reporter
Guwahati: For committing fraud in printing contracts amounting to Rs 121 crore under the Labour Department, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Guwahati Zonal Office, conducted search operations in the residential and business premises of Priyanshu Boiragi, the proprietor of M/s Purbashree Printing House, Guwahati, and arrested him under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. He was produced before the Special Court (PMLA), Guwahati, which has granted ED custody for five days.
ED sources said that the agency initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the CM's Special Vigilance Cell, under various sections of the IPC, 1860, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It is alleged in the FIR that Priyanshu Boiragi, proprietor of M/s Purbashree Printing House, Guwahati, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Chohan Doley, IAS (then member secretary, Assam Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board - ABOCWWB), Gautam Baruwa (then chairman, ABOCWWB) and other officials to fraudulently siphon off government funds collected as Labour Welfare Cess. The cess collected by the ABOCWWB under the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996 (generally at 1% of construction cost), is a dedicated welfare fund meant exclusively for the social security and welfare of registered construction workers. It is used to provide benefits such as accident and death assistance, medical aid, maternity benefits, pensions, educational support for workers' children, funeral assistance, and other welfare measures, recognizing the informal, hazardous, and insecure nature of construction work. The conspirators of the scam fraudulently siphoned off and laundered funds meant for the extremely poor sections of the society.
During the financial years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, Priyanshu Boiragi was awarded fraudulent printing contracts amounting to a total of Rs. 121 crore through staged, fake and forged tendering processes. Of the total contract amount, an amount of Rs. 118.55 crore was received by M/s Purbashree Printing House from ABOCWWB, large parts of which were either immediately converted to personal FDs by Priyanshu Boiragi or routed through several shell entities in Delhi to complicate tracing of the Proceeds of Crime (POC).
During the course of the search, incriminating evidence and electronic devices have been seized under relevant sections of PMLA, along with one Audi car. In this case, FDs and bank balances to the tune of Rs.34.03 crore have been attached earlier under Section 5(1) of PMLA, and the same was confirmed by the Adjudication Authority, PMLA.
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