Patna: Continuous action is being taken in Bihar against criminals amassing illegal wealth through crime. The Economic Offences Unit has identified 55 such individuals for action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and sent proposals for confiscation of their property to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). So far, property worth Rs 11 crore belonging to 22 criminals has been seized, while investigations continue in the remaining cases.
At a press conference held in Patna on Friday, DIG of the Economic Offences Unit, Manavjit Singh Dhillon, said that among those targeted are drug smugglers, sand mafia members, Naxalites, extremists, and notorious criminals. This year alone, proposals for confiscating the property of four criminals have been sent, including Sanjeev Mukhiya, mastermind of the paper leak case, sand mafia Rampravesh Rai, and Sumit Kumar, branch manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
A fraud of over Rs 35 crore has been unearthed involving Sumit Kumar, who was arrested after it was found that money had been transferred to several banned companies in South Africa and the Philippines. The Economic Offences Unit is working jointly with the ED and taking assistance from central agency I4C in this investigation.
Manavjit informed that two major disproportionate assets cases have been registered this year, alongside five FIRs in Patna and Bhojpur related to illegal sand mining. Using drone assessments, 4,58,000 cubic feet of sand has been seized, and action is underway to confiscate the illegal property of the mafia involved.
The crackdown has extended to cooperative banks as well. Financial irregularities of over Rs 100 crore have come to light in two banks. Evidence shows fraud worth Rs 15 crore in Patna-based Awami League Cooperative Bank and Rs 85 crore in Vaishali Cooperative Bank. Shahbaz from Awami League Bank and Gopal Prasad from Vaishali Bank have been arrested for embezzling crores using fake LIC policies and forged documents.
In the ongoing war against drug smuggling, authorities have seized 4,501 kg of ganja and 40,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup since January.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway to establish a separate cyber wing within the Economic Offences Unit in view of the rising cyber crime in Bihar. DIG Sanjay Kumar said that DSPs and other officers will soon be deployed for this. Since 2013, 91 cases have been registered in the cyber unit, of which 69 are pending and 25 have been disposed of.
Recently, a SIM box fraud involving fake websites for Aadhaar verification was uncovered, with biometric details being misused to obtain SIM cards. Several private mobile company dealers are under investigation.
Since January, the cyber helpline number 1930 has received 15,62,000 calls, with 38,000 calls related to financial fraud. An illegal amount of Rs 47.01 crore has been held, with Rs 3.64 crore refunded to victims. Bihar ranks third in the country for holding defrauded amounts.
