The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached five immovable properties valued at Rs 2.01 crore in its money-laundering investigation into the Bihar Constable Recruitment-2023 examination paper leak, linking the action to alleged diversion of funds from the question-paper printing contract.
The ED’s Patna zonal office said on Friday that the properties belong to N C Print Private Ltd, which the agency alleges was controlled and beneficially owned by Kaushik Kumar Kar. The action has been taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The money-laundering case originated from an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Unit in Patna. The FIR invoked provisions relating to criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and information-technology offences against various Telegram URLs, mobile numbers and bank accounts allegedly involved in the circulation of the Bihar Constable Recruitment Examination question paper.
According to the chargesheet filed by the EOU on August 22, 2024, Kar, the owner of Blessings Secured Press Pvt Ltd, allegedly arranged to obtain the question-paper printing contract through Caltex Multiventures Pvt Ltd. The ED said Caltex had no prior printing experience and did not own a printing press, while the role of Blessings Secured Press was concealed through the arrangement.
The agency also said Blessings Secured Press had previously been blacklisted over alleged involvement in examination paper leak cases. It alleged that Kar incorporated Caltex by appointing associates as dummy directors to bypass restrictions arising from those earlier cases. The Central Selection Board of Constable awarded the printing contract to Caltex, which allegedly outsourced the work to Blessings Secured Press in violation of the agreement.
The question papers were transported from Kolkata to Patna and were allegedly leaked on the way to examination centres in connivance with other accused persons. The leak resulted in the cancellation of the 2023 constable recruitment examination, causing financial loss to the Bihar government and disrupting the recruitment process for aspirants.
The ED said Caltex received an advance payment of Rs 5.9 crore and remitted only part of the amount to Blessings Secured Press. The agency alleged that Rs 2.01 crore was diverted through several shell entities. According to the investigation, the money was layered through Kolkata-based companies that lacked genuine business operations, routed through bogus transactions, converted into cash and subsequently dissipated.
As the agency could not trace the diverted proceeds further, it attached the five properties of N C Print Private Ltd for an equivalent value of the identified proceeds of crime. The ED said its further investigation into the case is continuing.
