The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out coordinated searches across Nagaland, Assam, and Tamil Nadu on November 4 in connection with alleged illegal foreign transactions disguised as human hair exports.
Officials said it was the ED’s first-ever search and seizure operation in Nagaland under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), involving Lima Imsong and others. The agency’s Dimapur Sub Zone covered seven locations – two in Dimapur, two in Guwahati, and three in Chennai.
According to the ED, Imsong Global Suppliers Co., owned by Lima Imsong, allegedly received large foreign remittances under the pretext of exporting human hair – a trade described by investigators as “uncommon and commercially unviable” for a firm based in Dimapur.
The firm reportedly failed to submit mandatory export documents, including shipping bills and invoices, to its authorised dealer bank within the stipulated period, violating FEMA and RBI rules.
Investigators found that the remittances were diverted to Inchem India Pvt. Ltd. and to the personal accounts of Imsong and his family. Though registered separately, Inchem India was allegedly owned and controlled by Imsong and became active only after the inflow of foreign funds.
The ED said the funds were further routed to several suspicious entities in Chennai linked to the human hair trade, which are now under probe. The agency said the searches were aimed at enforcing FEMA compliance and mark a major step in expanding financial oversight in the Northeast.