The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth approximately Rs 1.05 crore in connection with an illegal IPL/cricket betting syndicate allegedly operated from Tripura. The central probe agency provisionally attached movable and immovable properties valued at approximately Rs 1.05 crore through a Provisional Attachment Order on July 31, 2026.
The attached assets comprise nine immovable properties and balances lying in bank accounts, held in the names of the accused person, Laxman Paul, and his wife, Jhuma Dey Paul. The ED initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, based on an FIR registered by Tripura Police at Amtali Police Station in West Tripura under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Tripura Gambling Act, 1926.
The FIR was registered following a search conducted by Tripura Police on May 11, 2023, at the residential premises of Prasenjit Paul, during which cash amounting to Rs 93 lakh was recovered, along with a laptop, mobile phones, four debit cards and 17 notebooks containing entries of betting transactions. Investigation under the PMLA revealed that Prasenjit Paul, in connivance with his maternal uncle Laxman Paul and other associates, was engaged in an organised syndicate of illegal betting on IPL and other cricket matches.
Further investigation revealed that Laxman Paul, along with his wife Jhuma Dey Paul, accumulated large cash deposits and multiple immovable properties running into crores of rupees, with no disclosed or documented source of legitimate income. This is the second Provisional Attachment Order issued by the ED in this case, following an earlier order dated March 6, attaching properties held in the names of Prasenjit Paul and his mother.
With the present order, the total value of proceeds of crime attached by ED in this case, including cash, immovable properties and bank balances attached vide the earlier order of March 16, 2026, stands at approximately Rs 2.43 crore. Further investigation is underway.
