Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Assam Civil Service officer Paragmoni Mahanta for questioning over alleged financial irregularities involving nearly Rs 100 crore, sources said.
Mahanta is currently the director of the state Geology and Mining Department.
The agency’s inquiry relates to financial matters from periods when Mahanta held different senior posts, including his association with the Assam Mineral Development Corporation (AMDC).
One of the allegations concerns a monthly payment of around Rs 50,000 that Mahanta is said to have received from the corporation.
The allegations also involve an estimated Rs 5.60-crore loss to the AMDC and certain transactions connected with recruitment. The ED is also looking into claims that money meant for retired employees was misappropriated.
As part of this aspect of the probe, the agency has reportedly obtained information about a laptop costing around Rs 2 lakh that was allegedly bought with the diverted funds and later given to Mahanta’s child.
There is also an allegation that around Rs 15,000 was diverted every month under the name of a cleaning worker.
Mahanta’s earlier tenure in the Assam Rural Infrastructure and Technology (ARTFED) and Handloom and Textiles Department has also come under the agency’s scrutiny over allegations of financial irregularities.
The ED is expected to seek Mahanta’s response to the allegations and examine the financial dealings linked to the different positions he held.
No allegation against Mahanta has been established so far, and the ED’s investigation is still in progress.