Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate on December 17 carried out coordinated search operations at several locations in Manipur as part of a money-laundering probe linked to alleged illegal fund mobilisation and activities directed against the sovereignty of India, officials said.
ED teams raided at least five premises in Imphal in connection with the case, which centres on Yambem Biren and Narengbam Samarjit. The two have projected themselves as senior functionaries of a self-proclaimed body called the Manipur State Council, with Biren claiming the position of “chief minister” and Samarjit describing himself as “external affairs and defence minister”.
According to investigators, both individuals play key roles in the Salai Group of companies and allegedly mobilised more than Rs 50 crore from the public through deceptive investment schemes. The agency suspects that the funds were diverted to support activities amounting to sedition and waging war against the Government of India.
The probe traces its origin to a press conference held in London in 2019, where Biren and Samarjit allegedly announced the “independence of Manipur from the Union of India”. The ED said the act amounted to promoting enmity, disturbing communal harmony, and undermining the country’s sovereignty.
Central agencies had earlier taken action against the duo, with both the National Investigation Agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation registering cases against them.
Officials said Biren and Samarjit initially floated an entity named the Kadangband Swajaldhara Implementation Committee in May 2003, which was later rebranded as Smart Society in August 2008. The duo subsequently set up Salai Financial Service, also known as SAFFINS, operating from its registered office at Sagolband Tera Loukrakpam Leikai in Imphal.
The ED alleged that Smart Society illegally functioned as a non-banking financial company, collecting cash deposits from the public under the pretext of membership fees. The organisation allegedly promised unusually high returns and paid investors only in cash to evade regulatory scrutiny.
In a statement, the agency said that Rs 57.36 crore was raised from unsuspecting investors through multiple schemes and routed into the personal bank accounts of the Salai Group, Smart Society, and their directors.
The ED claimed the funds constituted proceeds of crime and were channelled towards activities linked to sedition, fostering disharmony, and attempts to wage war against the Indian state. Officials said further investigation into the money trail and associated activities is ongoing.