Patna: The Patna zonal office of Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has provisionally attached five immovable properties of M/s N C Print Private Ltd, valued at Rs 2.01 crore, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in connection with its probe into the Bihar Constable Recruitment-2023 examination paper leak case, the central agency said here on Friday.The money-laundering investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by Economic Offences Unit (EOU), Patna. The FIR invoked sections 120B, 420, 467 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, against various Telegram URLs, mobile numbers and bank accounts allegedly involved in the leak of the Bihar Constable Recruitment Examination question paper.According to the chargesheet filed by EOU on Aug 22, 2024, Kaushik Kumar Kar, owner of Blessings Secured Press Pvt Ltd, allegedly orchestrated a conspiracy to secure the contract for printing the question papers through his proxy company, Caltex Multiventures Pvt Ltd. The contract was awarded by Central Selection Board of Constable, Bihar, despite Caltex allegedly having no prior printing experience and no printing press of its own.ED said the arrangement concealed the role of Blessings Secured Press, which had earlier been blacklisted for alleged involvement in examination paper leak cases. The question papers for the 2023 constable recruitment exam were transported from Kolkata to Patna and were allegedly leaked en route to examination centres in connivance with other accused persons. The leak led to cancellation of the examination, causing financial loss to Bihar govt and adversely affecting aspirants.ED’s investigation found that Kar, the beneficial owner of the blacklisted Blessings Secured Press, incorporated Caltex Multiventures Pvt Ltd by appointing associates as dummy directors to bypass restrictions arising from the earlier cases. The agency alleged that Caltex secured the printing contract “through cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy” and outsourced the work to Blessings Secured Press in violation of its agreement with Central Selection Board of Constable.Caltex allegedly received an advance of Rs 5.9 crore, remitted only part of the funds to Blessings Secured Press, and diverted Rs 2.01 crore through various shell entities. ED said the proceeds of crime were layered through Kolkata-based shell companies lacking genuine business operations, routed under bogus transactions, converted into cash and dissipated.Since the diverted proceeds could not be traced further, ED attached five properties of NC Print Pvt Ltd, another company allegedly controlled and beneficially owned by Kar, as the equivalent value of the identified proceeds of crime. Further investigation is underway, ED said.
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