ACB raids premises of eight government officials

Raipur: Anti-Corruption Bureau today conducted surprise raids at the premises of eight government officials and allegedly unearthed disproportionate assets to the tune of several crores of rupees, a police official said here today.

Superintendent of Police (ACB) Rajnesh Singh told PTI that cash worth around Rs 50 lakh was also recovered.

As many as 14 teams comprising ACB and Economic Offences Wing sleuths raided residences of eight officials in Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg and Bastar districts this morning after receiving complaints that they had amassed disproportionate wealth against their known sources of income.

Officials whose residences were raided are Deputy Director Agriculture of Gariyaband Riyazuddin Khan, Forest Ranger of Jagdalpur Ajay Kawre, Women and Child Development Officer of Jagdalpur Kishan Tandon, Deputy Director for Industrial Health and Safety Anthony Tirki, Sub-Engineer of Raipur Municipal Corporation Manoj Singh Thakur, Executive Engineer of Water Resources (Raipur) Suresh Pandey, Executive Engineer of Housing Board (Raipur) Ajit Singh Patel and Sub-Divisional Officer of Tandula Dam Durg N K Jain.

Riyazuddin’s residence at Bilaspur yielded Rs 2.25 lakh in cash besides papers related to assets worth crores of rupees, the police official said.

Gold and silver were also recovered from his possession and it was revealed that Khan owned land at prominent locations in Raipur, the police official said.

Documents related to property in Jagdalpur, Raipur, Mahasamund were also recovered from Kawre who owns a JCB machine, a crusher plant and a brick manufacturing machine, the police official said.

Moreover, cash, LIC deposits, bank accounts, movable and immovable assets worth rupees several crores were also unearthed from residences of other officials during the operation, the police official said, adding, the assessment of assets is still on.