ED Attaches Seven Properties Worth ₹1.50 Crore in BSNL Bulk SMS Fraud Case
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Chandigarh Zonal Office-I, has provisionally attached seven immovable properties valued at approximately ₹1.50 crore in connection with an alleged money-laundering case involving Swarnjeet Singh, the then Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDE) at BSNL’s Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) in Chandigarh, and others.
The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Chandigarh against Swarnjeet Singh, M/s Doorsteps Solutions and others.
According to the ED’s investigation, Singh allegedly conspired with Saurabh Tyagi, Marconi James Macwan and Preeti Gohel to facilitate unauthorised access to BSNL’s SMSC infrastructure. This allegedly allowed bulk SMS traffic to be routed while bypassing the mandatory Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and Tanla platform, along with the prescribed billing mechanism.
The agency estimates that approximately 63.37 crore bulk push SMS messages were illegally routed through the SMSCs, causing an estimated revenue loss of ₹5.42 crore to BSNL. This includes around ₹4.05 crore in interconnection usage charges.
The investigation further revealed that M/s Smart Technology, M/s Doorsteps Solutions and their partners allegedly benefited from the unauthorised bulk SMS services by obtaining them at rates below the prevailing market prices.
The seven properties provisionally attached by the ED include agricultural land in SAS Nagar (Mohali), Punjab, and residential and commercial properties in Vadodara, Gujarat.
With this latest action, the total value of properties provisionally attached in the case has reached approximately ₹2.30 crore. The ED has currently quantified the alleged proceeds of crime at around ₹6.47 crore.
The agency had earlier provisionally attached property worth ₹80 lakh in the case on March 27, 2025.
News Source : Directorate of Enforcement (ED) – Official Press Release, Government of India
