PATNA: The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police on Thursday conducted simultaneous raids at six locations linked to a government executive engineer, recovering movable and immovable assets worth several crores of rupees in a disproportionate assets case.
The accused, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, is currently posted as executive engineer in the Minor Irrigation Division at Sasaram in Rohtas district. The searches were carried out after the EOU registered an FIR under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), alleging that Chaudhary possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
According to EOU officials, preliminary findings indicated that the engineer had accumulated assets nearly 85 per cent higher than his known sources of income. Officials, however, believe the final assessment could reveal an even larger disparity.
The raids covered six premises, including two luxury apartments in Danapur on the outskirts of Patna, Chaudhary's office and official residence in Sasaram, his in-laws' residence in Muzaffarpur and his ancestral home at Pipradih village in Banka district.
EOU Additional Director General (ADG) Amit Kumar Jain said the searches led to the recovery of around 350 grams of branded gold jewellery, more than Rs 3 lakh in cash and several property documents from one of the apartments. Investigators also seized silver coins, silver utensils, luxury watches, bank passbooks, investment records and documents related to various assets.
Officials also recovered costly SUVs and additional valuables from the other locations searched on Thursday. The raided apartments, located in newly constructed residential complexes, are believed to be worth several crore rupees.
"The raids are still underway. A comprehensive report on the seized assets will be released after the operation is completed," ADG Jain said.
The EOU expects the value of the recovered assets to increase further as the investigation progresses and a detailed valuation is completed.