Imphal, October 9: The Imphal Sub-Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached three immovable properties valued at a total of Rs 71 lakh in a money laundering case linked to Manipur University.
According to ED officials, the attached properties include one residential property valued at Rs 23.95 lakh, held by Mrs. Konsam (O) Sheityabati Devi, the then Finance Officer in-charge of Manipur University. The other two properties are agricultural lands valued at Rs 48 lakh, held by Lourembam Rameshwar Meitei, a contractor and proprietor of Lourembam Enterprises. All properties are situated in Imphal.
The ED initiated the probe based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the CBI, Imphal, which alleged that university officials—K. Basanta Singh, K. Jiban Kumar, N. Tejendro Singh, and Vice-Chancellor HNK Sarma—colluded with Meitei to defraud the university.
The FIR states that the officials abused their positions to favour Meitei in awarding a tender for supplying furniture to the university’s International Guest House. They allegedly falsely certified the receipt of all items and released full payment to Lourembam Enterprises. To cover up the fraud, the officials reportedly claimed that the furniture had been destroyed in a fire at the university’s Recreation Hall, causing substantial wrongful loss to the institution and wrongful gain to themselves.
The ED investigation revealed that the tenders were awarded to M/s Lourembam Enterprises without following due procedure and in gross violation of the General Financial Rules (GFR). It was further established that Meitei did not supply furniture worth Rs 64,36,502 as per the order but raised illegal bills for this amount, along with an installation charge of Rs 9,65,476.
In total, Rs 74,01,978 was illegally paid to him by the university officials. The ED has determined that this amount, misappropriated by Meitei in collusion with the officials, constitutes proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Further investigation is underway.
