The ED Agartala has attached properties worth Rs. 1.05 crore under the PMLA in connection with an illegal IPL and cricket betting syndicate in Tripura. Total proceeds of crime attached have reached Rs. 2.43 crore as the investigation continues.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Agartala Sub Zonal Office, has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties valued at approximately Rs.1.05 Crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an illegal IPL/cricket betting syndicate operated in the State of Tripura.
The attached assets comprise nine immovable properties and balances lying in bank accounts, held in the names of the accused person and his wife.
ED initiated investigation under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002, on the basis of FIR registered by Tripura Police (Amtali Police Station) under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Tripura Gambling Act, 1926, against Prasenjit Paul and Laxman Paul.
According to ED, the FIR was registered on the basis of a search conducted by Tripura Police on 11.05.2023 at the residential premises of Prasenjit Paul, during which cash amounting to Rs.93 Lakh was recovered, along with a laptop, mobile phones, four debit cards, and 17 notebooks containing entries of betting transactions.
Investigation conducted under the PMLA, 2002 has revealed that Prasenjit Paul, in connivance with his maternal uncle Laxman Paul and other associates, was engaged in an organised syndicate of illegal betting/sattebaji on IPL and other cricket matches. Laxman Paul, a named co-accused in the FIR, is alleged to have assisted Prasenjit Paul in the said illegal betting activities and in evading arrest.
Investigation has further revealed that Laxman Paul, along with his wife Jhuma Dey Paul, in whose name he operated and controlled several bank accounts, accumulated large cash deposits and multiple immovable properties running into crores of rupees, with no disclosed or documented source of legitimate income to explain the same.
This is the second Provisional Attachment Order issued by ED in this case, following an earlier Provisional Attachment Order dated 16.03.2026 attaching properties held in the names of Prasenjit Paul and his mother.
The properties now attached under the present order comprise nine immovable properties, being agricultural and residential land parcels situated in West Tripura and a property at Kolkata, West Bengal, purchased predominantly through cash payments, together with balances lying in bank accounts, all standing in the names of Laxman Paul and Jhuma Dey Paul.
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With the present order, the total value of Proceeds of Crime attached by ED in this case, including cash, immovable properties and bank balances attached vide the earlier Provisional Attachment Order dated 16.03.2026, stands at approximately Rs.2.43 Crore.
Further investigation is under progress, ED said.
