Guwahati, March 17: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today recorded the statements of former chief executive member (CEM) of North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council Depolal Hojai and his wife Vanlaldik in connection with the multi-crore rupee scam at the council.

The couple's statements regarding their properties, bank accounts, sources of income and monetary transactions were recorded at the ED's zonal office here under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002, an official source said.

The act provides for confiscation of property derived from money laundering.

The source said the ED had summoned them yesterday but they didn't turn up, citing health reasons. 'They finally appeared before the ED and recorded their statements today,' he added. 'Vanlaldik was mostly questioned about certain properties she jointly owns with her husband,' the source said.

Investigations had revealed that during Depolal's tenure as the council's CEM from December 2007 to January 2009, several crores of rupees of government funds of departments like PWD, public health engineering, social welfare, forest, health, District Rural Development Agency, agriculture and soil conservation were siphoned off by politicians, bureaucrats and contractors.

A substantial portion of the money also reached the coffers of DHD (J), a militant group which was disbanded in November 2012 after all its members laid down arms and returned to the mainstream.

The ED, which is probing the money laundering aspect of the scandal, is trying to recover the 'proceeds of crime', that is cash and other properties derived from a criminal activity.

The source said Depolal had received several benefits from a contractor, Jayanta Kumar Ghosh, including a Ford Endeavour costing between Rs 20 and Rs 22 lakh in May-July 2008, a pistol (Rs 15 lakh), a Goa-Mumbai trip and another trip to Kashmir in 2008, necklace and some other items for his wife and around Rs 50 lakh in cash for PWD work in 2008.

The source said Depolal was chargesheeted by the CBI for his involvement in corruption in various departments of the council, including the forest department where he and three others allegedly misappropriated Rs 5.49 crore from the money released by the National Highway Authority of India for compensatory afforestation in the Dima Hasao forests affected by four-laning of NH54 in 2008.

The source said another former CEM of the council, Mohet Hojai, and eight other accused were produced before the designated PMLA court here yesterday in connection with the case.

The ED had last month also attached Rs 1.3 crore deposited in different bank accounts of Amiya Baruah, the widow of bureaucrat Anil Kumar Baruah, who was the former deputy commissioner of Dima Hasao district (formerly known as North Cachar Hills district), in connection with the case. The ED attached the money under the provisions of the act, claiming it to be proceeds of crime.