Chandigarh: BSNL engineer booked as ED seizes properties in SMS fraud

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached seven immovable properties worth Rs 1.5 crore in connection with a money-laundering case involving unauthorised routing of bulk SMS traffic through BSNL’s network. The probe, based on a CBI FIR, alleges that BSNL engineer Swarnjeet Singh and associates enabled illegal SMS routing, causing BSNL a revenue loss of Rs 5.42 crore.

Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Chandigarh Zonal Office, has provisionally attached seven immovable properties valued at around Rs 1.50 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in a money-laundering investigation linked to the unauthorised routing of bulk SMS traffic through BSNL’s network, the investigation agency said on Friday in a press statement.

The action has been taken against Swarnjeet Singh, the then BSNL’s SMSC Sub-Divisional Engineer at BSNL in Chandigarh, and others.

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“The ED probe was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Chandigarh against Swarnjeet Singh, M/s Doorsteps Solutions and others,” the central agency said.

According to the ED, Swarnjeet Singh, in criminal conspiracy with Saurabh Tyagi, Marconi James Macwan and Preeti Gohel, facilitated unauthorised access to BSNL’s SMSC infrastructure.

This enabled bulk SMS traffic to be routed by bypassing the mandatory DLT/Tanla platform and the prescribed billing mechanism.

Investigation revealed that around 63.37 crore bulk push SMS messages were illegally routed through the SMSCs.

The estimated revenue loss to BSNL stands at Rs 5.42 crore, which includes about Rs 4.05 crore towards Interconnection Usage Charges.

M/s Smart Technology/M/s Doorsteps Solutions and their partners are alleged to have availed these unauthorised bulk SMS services at rates below the prevailing market rates and derived financial benefits from the arrangement, the agency added.

The seven properties now attached include agricultural land situated in SAS Nagar (Mohali) in Punjab, and residential as well as commercial properties located in Gujarat’s Vadodara.

With this attachment, the total value of properties provisionally attached in the case has risen to around Rs 2.30 crore.

Earlier, the ED had attached property worth Rs 80 lakh on March 27, 2025.

At the present stage of the investigation, the proceeds of crime have been quantified at around Rs 6.47 crore.

Further investigation into the matter is underway.