CBI Raids Rajesh Bajaj’s Guwahati Home; Earlier Linked to Saradha Scam

A large team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from Kolkata on Tuesday conducted a search operation at the Sarumotoria residence of businessman Rajesh Bajaj, an accused in the multi-crore financial irregularities linked to the Assam Co-operative Apex Bank.

The raid forms part of the CBI’s investigation into the alleged Rs 20.30-crore loan diversion, which is believed to have contributed to the financial collapse of the Apex Bank. Local police and forensic teams were present during the operation.

According to investigation records, a company owned by Bajaj, Northeast Plantation and Commercial Private Limited, had received Rs 20.30 crore from the Apex Bank between April 5 and June 20, 2023.

The funds were routed through Demand Bill Purchase (DBP), a transaction method explicitly prohibited for co-operative banks by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since 2015. The disbursement is said to be in clear violation of RBI directives.

Rajesh Bajaj’s name had earlier surfaced during the investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam, one of India’s largest Ponzi scheme cases. The Saradha Group had mobilised thousands of crores of rupees from small investors across West Bengal, Assam, Odisha and other states, promising unusually high returns.

During the course of the investigation, it was alleged in official records and media reports that then Assam Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma may have received payments from entities linked to the Saradha Group, a claim that has been denied by him in the past.

The scheme collapsed in 2013, leading to widespread financial losses, multiple arrests, and a CBI-led investigation monitored by the Supreme Court. Bajaj was interrogated by the CBI in 2014 in connection with the Saradha case, and companies linked to him were examined as part of the probe.

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