ED attaches deposits of ‘conman’, suspended Tripura IAS officer in cheating case

New Delhi: Bank deposits worth more than Rs 1 crore belonging to an alleged conman, a suspended Tripura cadre IAS officer and a private company have been attached under the anti-money laundering law, the Enforcement Directorate said on Saturday. The probe pertains to a man named Utpal Kumar Chowdhury who is alleged to have cheated businessmen claiming his "close proximity" with senior government officials posted in Tripura. "The attached assets comprise bank balances held in the names of she ll entities controlled by Chowdhury, suspended IAS officer of the Tripura cadre Abhishek Chandra, and a private housing company," the central agency said in a statement. The provisional attachment order to attach bank deposits worth Rs 1.12 crore was issued on July 31 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it said. The ED said Chowdhury projected himself as a senior officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and got "fake" identity cards to that effect. He incorporated firms bearing deceptive similarity to government departments and public sector undertakings like 'Directorate of Higher Education, Tripura' and 'Bridge & Roof Co.', and also "fraudulently" took control of a registered trust named Chaltakhali Swamiji Seva Sangha, according to the ED. "Using these entities, he (Chowdhury) allegedly lured businessmen and investors with false promises of government tenders, mid-day meal supply contracts and rubber business profits, and induced them to remit funds running into crores of rupees into bank accounts of these entities," it said. The ED alleged IAS officer Chandra received proceeds of crime generated by Chowdhury and his associates, directly into his personal bank accounts and indirectly through payments made by scheme entities to a private housing compan y towards booking of a flat in his name. The ED had conducted searches in this case in August 2025 and it had then said in an official statement that fake seals and ID of the MHA, Tripura government and some PSUs were seized. Chowdhury was then stated to be lodged in a jail in Haryana following his arrest by the state police there. The current PMLA case stems from police FIRs lodged in Tripura and West Bengal against Chowdhury and some others.