Patna, Oct 30 — The ED attached five immovable properties valued at Rs 2.01 crore in connection with an investigation into the Bihar Constable Recruitment, 2023 exam paper leak, an official said in a statement on Friday.
Enforcement Directorate, Patna Zonal Office, attached the properties under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED investigation was initiated based on an FIR registered by the EOU, Patna, for offences under sections 120B, 420, 467, 468 of the IPC, 1860 and Section 66 of the IT Act, 2000 against various Telegram URLs, mobile numbers, bank accounts involved in the leaking of the question paper for the Bihar Constable Recruitment Exam, 2023, said the statement.
As per the charge sheet dated August 22, 2024, filed by the EOU, Patna, in the FIR, Kaushik Kumar Kar, the owner of Blessings Secured Press Pvt Ltd, orchestrated a conspiracy to secure the contract for printing the question paper for the Constable Recruitment Exam through his proxy company Caltex Multiventures Pvt Ltd, the ED said.
The contract was awarded by the Central Selection Board of Constable, Bihar, despite Caltex lacking prior printing experience and its own printing press. The arrangement concealed the involvement of Blessings Secured Press, which had been blacklisted for involvement in previous examination paper leak cases, said the ED.
The question papers of the Constable Recruitment Exam, 2023 were transported from Kolkata to Patna and were leaked en route to the exam centres in connivance with the other accused persons. The leakage resulted in the exam getting cancelled, causing financial loss to the Bihar Government and adversely affecting the career of the exam aspirants, the ED said.
The ED investigation has revealed that Kaushik Kumar Kar, beneficial owner of Blessings Secured Press Pvt Ltd (blacklisted earlier), incorporated a new entity in the name and style of Caltex Multiventures Pvt Ltd, by placing his associates as dummy directors in this company to circumvent restrictions arising from Blessings Secured Press's involvement in previous examination paper leak cases, the ED said.
Caltex Multiventures secured the contract for printing question papers for the Bihar Police Constable Recruitment Examination, 2023 through cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, and outsourced the work to Blessings Secured Press in violation of the contract with Central Selection Board of Constable, Bihar, the ED said.
Caltex Multiventures also got an advance of Rs 5.9 crore and remitted only part of the funds to Blessings Secured Press, and an amount of Rs 2.01 crore was found diverted through various shell entities, which finally dissipated, said the statement.
The ED investigation has also revealed that the proceeds of crime generated through the criminal activities were layered and concealed through a complex network of Kolkata-based shell companies/entities lacking genuine business operations.
The investigation also revealed that the funds were diverted to various shell entities under bogus transactions to conceal their origin and nature, and converted into cash, ending the money trail.
As the crime proceeds could not be traced further, five immovable properties to the tune of Rs 2.01 crore, held in the name of NC Print Pvt Ltd, another company controlled and beneficially owned by Kaushik Kumar Kar, have been provisionally attached as value equivalent to the Proceeds of Crime identified so far, the ED said.