ED raids 5 Manipur locations in Rs 50-cr investment scam linked to anti-India acts
Case traces back to a 2019 London press event where accused declared Manipur’s independence from India
ED team at one of five locations raided in Imphal, on Wednesday. (Photo:@imayankindian/X)
New Delhi/Imphal, Dec 17: The Enforcement Directorate, on Wednesday, conducted searches in Manipur in a money laundering probe into an alleged Rs 50-crore investment scam linked to anti-India activities.
At least five premises in state capital, Imphal were raided and these are linked to Yambem Biren, self-styled chief minister of the Manipur state council, and Narengbam Samarjit, self-styled external affairs and defence minister of the Manipur state council.
The accused are the "key persons" of the Salai Group of companies, ED officials told the press.
The case relates to a press conference held in London in 2019 by Biren and Samarjit, where they "declared the independence of Manipur from the Union of India”.
This was a prejudicial act amounting to waging war against the state, sedition, and promoting disharmony, enmity and feelings of hatred among different groups, as per the ED.
The two individuals were first booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The accused are also accused of establishing a "Kadangband Swajaldhara Implementation Committee" in May 2003, whose name was changed to Smart Society in August 2008, as per the agency.
The accused went on to establish a society named Salai Financial Service (SAFFINS) and had its registered office at Sagolband Tera Loukrakpam Leikai in Imphal.
The accused, along with the entities of the Salai Group of companies, fraudulently collected cash from the public by promising exorbitant rates of interest, the ED found.
"Smart Society functioned illegally as a non-banking financial company (NBFC) by accepting deposits in cash from the general public under the guise of membership fee and disbursed interest only in cash,” the ED said.
The Directorate further added that they collected Rs 57.36 crore from gullible investors under different schemes and deposited these funds into the personal bank accounts of the Salai Group of Companies, Smart Society and their directors.
These funds are the proceeds of crime and were used for waging war against the government of India, sedition, and promoting disharmony, enmity and feelings of hatred among different groups, the agency alleged.
PTI