The Guwahati Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets totaling Rs 8.90 crore in Guwahati and Goalpara, along with movable properties valued at Rs 3.71 lakh, as part of an investigation into disproportionate assets linked to Akhtar Hussain, who previously served as the Divisional Soil Conservation Officer for the Cachar Soil Conservation Division in Silchar, and his spouse, Dr. Jasmine Rahman, a Senior Medical and Health Officer in Kamrup (Metro). This investigation was prompted by a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Chief Minister’s Special Vigilance Cell of the Assam Police, which accused Akhtar Hussain under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for holding assets that were not in line with his known income sources.
The chargesheet from the Special Vigilance Cell indicated that from April 9, 2003, to February 28, 2023, Hussain’s assets were found to be disproportionate, amounting to Rs 8.97 crore, which represented a staggering 191.50% of his income. Financial investigations revealed that Hussain and his wife acquired numerous immovable properties during this time, often paying substantially more than the amounts reflected in their sale deeds, a tactic used to obscure the actual Utilization of Proceeds of Crime (POC). They struggled to clarify the origins of significant cash used for real estate acquisitions. Furthermore, the investigation unveiled that properties were often registered in the names of family members as a ploy to establish layers of obfuscation. The properties procured via these illicit means were then leveraged to produce monthly rental income. Deposits totaling Rs. 11.91 lakh were made into Akhtar Hussain’s bank accounts, while his wife’s accounts received Rs. 59.89 lakh, according to information presented by the ED.