Manipur: ED searches locations connected to self-styled state council leaders

Manipur: According to officials, the Enforcement Directorate searched Manipur on Wednesday as part of a money laundering investigation against certain individuals who are suspected of obtaining more than Rs 50 crore in funds from the public under the guise of an investment scheme and using them to wage war against the Indian government.

Yambem Biren, the self-proclaimed chief minister of the Manipur state council, and Narengbam Samarjit, the self-proclaimed foreign affairs and defense minister of the Manipur state council, are connected to the raids on at least five locations in the state capital Imphal.

According to ED authorities, the accused are the “key persons” of the Salai Group of firms. The issue concerns Biren and Samarjit’s 2019 news conference in London, when they “declared the independence of Manipur from the Union of India.”

According to the ED, this was a discriminatory conduct that amounted to sedition, war against the state, and the encouragement of animosity, discord, and hate amongst various groups.

The CBI and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) first made these two arrests.

According to the agency, the defendants are also charged with creating a “Kadangband Swajaldhara Implementation Committee” in May 2003, which was renamed Smart Society in August 2008.

In Imphal, the defendants went on to form an organization called Salai Financial Service (SAFFINS), which had Sagolband Tera Loukrakpam Leikai as its registered office.

The ED concluded that the accused and the organizations of the Salai Group of enterprises had deceitfully obtained money from the public by offering outrageous interest rates.

“Smart Society functioned illegally as a non-banking financial company (NBFC) by accepting deposits in cash from the general public under the guise of membership fee and disbursed interest only in cash.”

“They collected Rs 57.36 crore from gullible investors under different schemes and deposited these funds into the personal bank accounts of the Salai Group of Companies, Smart Society and their directors,” the Enforcement Director said.

The agency said that these monies, which are the proceeds of crime, were used to wage war against the Indian government, commit sedition, and foster animosity, hate, and discord among various communities.