The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached bank deposits worth Rs 1.12 crore linked to suspended Tripura IAS officer Abhishek Chandra, alleged conman Utpal Kumar Chowdhury, and shell entities under the PMLA, as investigations into an alleged fraud, cheating, and money laundering case continue.
Enforcement Directorate attached bank deposits worth more than Rs 1 crore belonging to suspended Tripura cadre IAS officer Abhishek Chandra, and an alleged conman Utpal Kumar Chowdhury, besides a private company under the anti-money laundering law.
Chandra is a 2003-batch IAS officer belonging to Tripura cadre and held senior administrative posts in the state.
According to the ED, the attachment was made through a Provisional Attachment Order dated July 31, 2026. The attached assets comprise bank balances held in the names of shell entities allegedly controlled by Chowdhury, Chandra, and a private housing company. The agency has identified these funds as proceeds of crime.
The probe pertains to 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 shell 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 on Saturday.
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 fraud is connected to an alleged impersonation of Government officials and cheating investors and businessmen through entities deceptively resembling Government organisations.
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. Victims were allegedly persuaded to transfer crores of rupees into bank accounts operated by these entities.
“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.
Much of the money was reportedly withdrawn in cash, while a substantial portion was diverted to downstream entities and invested in immovable properties, vehicles and other assets held in the names of the accused and their family members.
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 company towards booking of a flat in his name.
The ED initiated its money laundering investigation based on multiple FIRs registered by police in West Bengal and Tripura against Utpal Kumar Chowdhury and his associates. The FIRs relate to offences including cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and impersonation, which are scheduled offences under the PMLA.
The ED further stated that suspended IAS officer Abhishek Chandra allegedly received proceeds of crime generated by Utpal Kumar Chowdhury and his associates.
The agency claimed that the funds reached him both directly through personal bank accounts and indirectly through payments made by scheme entities to a private housing company for booking a flat in his name.
With the latest attachment, the total value of assets provisionally attached in the case across two Provisional Attachment Orders has reached approximately Rs. 1.63 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate said further investigation in the case is underway.
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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.
