KALABURAGI: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths who have in their possession documents, cash and ornaments in all worth Rs 4,15,12,491, seized from PWD JE of Jewargi sub-division Shantagouda Biradar, stated that he had amassed property which is 406.17 per cent more than his known sources of income. The sleuths conducted raids on Wednesday and Thursday in Kalaburagi and other places.
They arrested Biradar on Wednesday evening, after conducting fitness and Covid tests in the District Government Hospital here, and remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days. PWD Executive Engineer Mallikarjun Jeratagi, asked if Biradar had been suspended by the department, said that ACB officials will send a report to the government, with details of illegally amassed property, and recommend suspension. Jeratagi said that so far, he has not received a report from the ACB, and added that no departmental inquiries were pending against the arrested official.
ACB officials briefed the media on how they came to know about Rs 13 lakh in cash hidden in a PVC pipe. Before they went into Biradar’s house, they had been tipped off by neighbours that the money and ornaments might have been hidden in the bathroom or toilet.
When some officials were verifying documents and others were searching for cash and ornaments, they noticed that Biradar and his son were frequently going to the toilet on one pretext or other. Suspicious, they decided to check. They found a washing machine placed near the toilet, and the mouth of the PVC pipe connected to the washing machine, was covered by a stone instead of a pipe cover. They removed the stone and found cash hidden in the pipe. ACB sleuths summoned a local plumber and cut the pipe, and found over Rs 13 lakh in cash. The washing machine was not in use for over two months.
Sources said that Biradar and his son were to go to Bengaluru on Wednesday to hand over money to a middleman, to secure a job for the young man. But sleuths raided his house on Wednesday morning. They visited State Bank of India and Canara Bank at Super Market, besides the SBI branch in Jewargi, and collected information about his bank deposits and lockers. They also purchased trunks to keep the documents, cash and ornaments, which will be kept in the treasury.