The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) on Thursday recovered around ₹ 52 lakh in cash, jewellery worth ₹ 35 lakh and property documents relating to assets worth around ₹ 2 crore during searches at premises linked to a Bihar government executive engineer in a disproportionate assets case, officials said.
The EOU team carried out simultaneous searches at five locations in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Munger in connection with a disproportionate assets case registered against Das under Section 13(2) and Section 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Deputy inspector general (EOU) Manavjit Singh Dhillon said ₹ 50 lakh in cash was recovered from a flat in Radhika Apartment during a search in Muzaffarpur and was being counted using a machine. Prima facie evidence has been found of ₹ 83. 53 lakh in assets allegedly acquired beyond his known legitimate sources of income, which is approximately 64.93 per cent above his known income,” said the DIG, adding that the EOU obtained search warrants from the Special Court of Vigilance. The EOU further said that Das joined in 2014 as an assistant engineer in the water resources department and is now on deputation at PDD, while his father-in-law is a retired teacher. In his rented accommodation at Munger, the EOU found ₹ 1.70 lakh in cash, a Hyundai Sportz car, and documents related to the purchase of ornaments. Additionally, the EOU recovered incriminating documents, investments of ₹ 17.15 lakh in LIC and Aditya Birla, and four passbooks.
The locations included Das’s residences in Bhagalpur and Patna, a flat in Muzaffarpur, a location in Munger and the government office of the Local Area Engineering Organisation, Works Division, in Munger. The anti-corruption agency will provide further details after the operation is over and the raiding teams return to Patna.
“The case was registered based on information received from a “reliable source” regarding assets allegedly acquired by Das beyond his known sources of income.
