Patna: The Bihar government on Tuesday suspended IAS officer Deepak Anand, four weeks after a disproportionate assets case was lodged against him with the special vigilance unit of the state police.
Anand, a 2007 batch officer, and his medico wife Shikha Rani have been accused of accumulating movable and immovable property worth over Rs 2.60 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income. They were booked under section 13 (2) read with section 13 (1) (e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
A notification issued by the general administration department on Tuesday said Anand would remain attached to the office of the Patna divisional commissioner during his suspension. The disciplinary action against Anand had been initiated under rule 3 and sub-rule 3 of the All India Service (discipline and appeal) Rules, 1969.
During his suspension, Anand would get sustainable allowance as per rule 4 of the All India Service (discipline and appeal) Rules, 1969. Additional secretary, general administration department, Dayanidhan Pandey said that as per rules, Anand was earlier served a showcause notice. Unsatisfied with his reply, the government decided to put him under suspension, he clarified.
On January 3 this year, sleuths of the vigilance unit carried out searches on the residential premises of Anand in Patna, Sitamarhi and Katihar in Bihar and Godda in Jharkhand after obtaining an order from the court concerned. The raiding team detected property worth Rs 2.60 crore. Anand's in-laws are from Godda while Sitamarhi is his native district.
The movable and immovable assets owned by Anand, who earlier served as district magistrate of Saran and Banka districts, were nearly 21 times more than his own sources of income. The hostel room of Katihar medical college where Anand's wife Shikha Rani is a second year MD student was also searched.
During investigation it came to the fore that Shika Rani owned two shops in a shopping mall in Patna. Besides, Rs 2 lakh cash and jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh were recovered at her parental house in Godda. The lockers allotted to the couple with the State Bank of India at Gandhi Maidan in Patna were also operated by the vigilance sleuths.
A senior official said Anand courted controversy soon after he tightened the noose against illegal sand smugglers during his stint as the district magistrate of Saran in October 2016. Then mining minister Muneshwar Choudhary had accused Anand of hampering the revenue collection in Saran district by conducting raids on trucks carrying sand.
Anand was removed from Saran in March last year and kept in waiting for posting following a boat tragedy on January 14 last year. A fortnight ago the state government initiated departmental proceedings against Anand for alleged close connections with sand smugglers.
Anand, who had secured 55th rank in the UPSC civil services examination of 2006, had shot to fame in 2013 while serving as the district magistrate of Banka. He used to provide free IAS coaching to needy and talented graduates on the premises of a school in Banka.
Anand also hit the headlines in March 2017 when he suspended the arms licences of some criminal-turned-politicians, including former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh and former MLA Kedarnath Singh and their relative Sudhir Kumar while serving as district magistrate of Saran.
