BHOPAL: Searches by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) sleuths at the residential premises of an assistant regional transport officer (ARTO) and his RTO office clerk wife in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district, have led to a palatial house which resembles a 5-start tourist resort.
The triple-storeyed house (which also has a basement) of Jabalpur ARTO Santosh Pal and his RTO office clerk office Rekha Pal located at Shatabdipuram Colony in Jabalpur city, had uninvited guests late on Wednesday night.
The EOW search which started at around 10.30 pm (as the searching team had come to know about the possibility of the RTO-Jabalpur staffer couple trying to shift some valuables elsewhere) led the team to what they hadn’t imagined.
A triple-storied house equipped with all luxury comforts, including a snazzy swimming pool, a mini theatre, a conference hall, a minibar and a separate high-end office for the RTO staffer couple were just some of the luxuries and comforts in the house, which as per EOW sources was valued at around Rs 4 crores.
The economic offences watchdog whose teams from Jabalpur and Sagar districts, also raided the couple’s two other residential properties in Jabalpur only, recovered from the palatial house Rs 16 lakh cash, high end jewellery, besides two luxury vehicles (MUVs and SUVs) and documents pertaining to couple’s investments elsewhere.
The search which continued on Thursday as well, also led to disclosure about the couple owning four more houses in Jabalpur city and a sprawling farmhouse spread in 1.4 acres land in Deekhakheda village of Jabalpur district.
“We’ve seized several other documents from the premises of the RTO office staffer couple, only after their scrutiny, the actual value of these assets (running into crores of rupees) would be ascertained,” SP-EOW Devendra Singh Rajput said.
According to an official statement released by the EOW, a case has been registered against the couple under provisions of The Prevention of Corruption Act 1988.
“The primary investigations suggest that the assets held by the ARTO and his RTO office clerk wife could well be 650% more than the income generated through their authentic and known sources of income,” the EOW statement said.
Ongoing probe has also revealed that the couple, particularly the ARTO had links in the power corridors of the state.