AGARTALA: An alleged multi-crore tender fraud involving a serving IAS officer has come to light in Agartala, after a Nagpur-based firm accused Abhishek Chandra, Krishna Chakraborty, Utpal Kumar Chowdhury and others of cheating them of Rs 14.55 crore through fabricated Tripura government work orders.
According to the FIR registered at New Capital Complex Police Station on July 1, the complainant, Manish Malani, a representative of SK Sales Corporation, alleged that Abhishek Chandra, a 2003-batch IAS officer serving as Special Secretary in the Planning (Statistics) Department, had introduced himself as a senior official responsible for floating tenders across various departments, including the Directorate of Higher Education.
The complaint states that around February 2024, Chandra represented that lucrative business opportunities existed in the power and mid-day meal sectors of the Tripura government, and claimed authority to issue and approve tenders under these schemes. Acting on these representations, the complainant and partners of the firm were allegedly invited to meet Chandra in New Delhi in August 2024, where purported tender documents were shown to them.
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It is alleged that Chandra suggested the firm form a Joint Venture with Krishna Chakraborty, represented by her husband Sudip Paul, and a JV agreement was executed on September 4, 2024. An Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 1,94,05,726 was allegedly paid the same day, followed by a Work Order for Rs 2,56,00,000 issued on September 19, 2024. Further EMDs were allegedly paid between September 2024 and February 2025, taking the total amount to Rs 14,55,42,945.
The complainant alleged that certain RTGS payments, described as profit share and refunds, were received from Krishna Chakraborty’s account between October 2024 and March 2025, which reinforced trust in the scheme. However, on a visit to Tripura in April 2025, it was allegedly discovered that no such tenders had been floated by the Directorate of Higher Education and that the documents were forged.
The FIR further alleges that Utpal Chaudhary, said to have been introduced as the officer processing payments, had actually been arrested by West Bengal Police and is currently lodged in a jail in Haryana.
The case has been registered under sections 61(2), 204, 316, 318, 319, 336, 338, 340 and 341 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Sub-Inspector Rahul Das has been directed to investigate.
