- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting searches at eight locations in Assam in a money laundering case against retired IAS officer Sewali Devi Sharma.
- The case involves alleged financial irregularities of over ₹105 crore related to a teacher training programme at the SCERT.
- Sharma is accused of enrolling over 1.06 lakh trainees—four times the approved number—and illegally diverting fees into unauthorized bank accounts.
GG News Bureau
Guwahati, 5th Aug: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today launched extensive search operations at eight locations across Assam in connection with a money laundering case involving retired IAS officer Sewali Devi Sharma and her associates. The raids are part of an ongoing investigation into a massive financial scam worth over ₹105 crore.
Sewali Devi Sharma, who previously served as the Executive Chairman-cum-Director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT)’s Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Cell, is accused of large-scale financial irregularities while implementing a teacher training programme. The case stems from an FIR filed by the Assam Chief Minister’s Special Vigilance Cell, which had previously led to her arrest in May 2023. She is currently out on bail.
The ED’s probe alleges that Sharma’s team received approval to train 27,897 government teachers but instead enrolled more than four times that number—over 1.06 lakh trainees—to collect excess funds. According to the investigation, she opened five unauthorized bank accounts for the ODL Cell, where she was the sole signatory, and diverted over ₹115 crore in fees into these accounts. These actions are a blatant violation of the Assam Financial Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005.
Further investigations have revealed that over ₹105 crore was spent from these accounts without following any tendering procedures or financial delegation rules. The probe indicates that contracts were allegedly handed out to firms owned by her close relatives, including her daughter and son-in-law, as well as her Chartered Accountant, Sarang More, without any competitive bidding.
The ED’s ongoing searches aim to trace the “proceeds of crime,” identify other beneficiaries involved in the alleged scam, and gather evidence of the money laundering operation. A previous police inquiry had indicated that Sharma may have amassed disproportionate assets worth over ₹5.7 crore during the period of the alleged financial misconduct.
