Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached hotels in Guwahati and residential flats in Mumbai worth over Rs 53 crore belonging to retired Assam Police officer Prasanta Kumar Dutta, alleging that they were acquired from proceeds of crime generated through assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.The attachment, ordered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), covers four Hotel Bhargav properties in Guwahati — at Paltan Bazar, GS Road, Lokhra Chariali and Betkuchi — besides two residential flats at Samartha Deep in Andheri (West), Mumbai. The total value of the attached assets is pegged at around Rs 53.28 crore.Dutta, who retired as Deputy Inspector General of Police after being promoted from the Assam Police Service to the IPS, is under investigation for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income during his service between 1992 and 2019.The ED said its probe stemmed from an FIR registered by the Assam Police’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Branch under the Prevention of Corruption Act.“As against the disclosed income of the officer and his wife of about Rs 7.23 crore and disclosed expenditure of about Rs 9.04 crore, undisclosed assets of about Rs 77.21 crore were found, the net disproportionate assets being reasonably ascertained at approximately Rs 79.01 crore,” the ED said in a statement.The agency alleged that the proceeds of crime were laundered through three closely held companies — Mahamaya Estates Pvt Ltd, Ishan Commercial Pvt Ltd and Murari Commodities Pvt Ltd — whose registered offices were found to be non-existent.“Investigations under the PMLA revealed that the proceeds of crime were laundered and projected as untainted property through three closely held companies,” the ED said, adding that nearly Rs 14.75 crore in unexplained cash was introduced into the accounts of Dutta’s family members and the companies before being layered through fictitious shareholders, Kolkata-based shell entities and circular bank transfers and finally invested in hotel properties and Mumbai flats.The agency further alleged that many shareholders of the companies were either fictitious or mere name lenders with no independent means to explain the investments.Dutta had earlier figured among the key accused in the 2020 Assam Police sub-inspector recruitment examination paper leak case. He was arrested after being detained near the Indo-Nepal border while allegedly evading investigators and was later granted bail in 2022.The ED said further investigation in the money laundering case is underway.
