Enforcement Directorate attaches assets worth ₹5.37 crore in Madhya Pradesh Marriage Assistance Scheme case

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Highlights

The Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth ₹5.37 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in the Madhya Pradesh Marriage Assistance Scheme scam.
Between 2019 and November 2021, Shobhit Tripathi and others misappropriated ₹30.18 crore in government funds across 5,923 fake cases.
Shobhit Tripathi was arrested under the PMLA on 02.09.2026. The investigation is ongoing, and incriminating documents have been recovered.

This article was translated from the original. Read the original version by our correspondent here.

Attachment order and basis for the investigation

As reported by the Enforcement Directorate, its Bhopal Zonal Office has issued a provisional attachment order for assets worth ₹5.37 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The action forms part of a money laundering investigation into the alleged fraudulent disbursement of government funds under the Madhya Pradesh government’s Marriage Assistance Scheme.

The scheme aimed to provide financial assistance of ₹51,000 to the daughters of registered poor construction workers. The investigating agency says that Shobhit Tripathi, then Chief Executive Officer of Sironj Janpad Panchayat, approved and disbursed ₹30.18 crore in government funds across 5,923 suspicious cases, in collaboration with others, during his tenure from 2019 to November 2021.

The ED investigation began on the basis of an FIR registered by the Bhopal Economic Offences Wing. The FIR invokes Sections 420, 409 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, along with Sections 13(1)(e) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Fake beneficiaries, bank accounts and regional impact

The investigation has found that the scheme was allegedly misused through fake and fabricated application forms and documents belonging to ineligible beneficiaries. According to the agency, bank accounts were opened using the names and identities of ineligible individuals without their knowledge. After scheme funds were transferred into these accounts, the money was withdrawn in cash in multiple instalments.

The ED has also said that ineligible individuals received benefits even during the COVID-19 lockdown, when public weddings were prohibited. The attached assets include immovable properties held in the names of Shobhit Tripathi and his associate Hemant Sahu.

Several incriminating documents were recovered during searches in the case. The ED said Shobhit Tripathi was arrested under the PMLA on 02.09.2026 and is currently in judicial custody, while further investigation is ongoing.

Our previous report on the ED’s action in the alleged Chhattisgarh custom rice milling incentive payment scam reported that the agency had arrested Ram Gopal Agrawal under the PMLA in a case involving alleged illegal cash collections of ₹147 crore. According to the report, after incentive rates were increased for the 2021-22 Kharif season, mills were allegedly charged ₹20 per quintal, with cash collected between December 2022 and July 2023. The funds were treated as proceeds of crime, and the investigation was expanded.

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