The Bahadurpur residence of Bharat Purve. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Economic Offence Unit detected disproportionate assets worth over Rs 4.5 crore in raids at the office and residential premises of two government engineers in Patna, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts on Wednesday.

Acting on a tip-off, an EOU team raided the residential premises of Shishir Kumar, who retired recently as assistant engineer in the district board, Vaishali, at Hajipur and found unaccounted wealth to the tune of Rs 3.06 crore.

The FIR said Kumar accumulated immovable property worth Rs 2.65 crore and movable assets worth Rs 40.72 lakh, respectively.

Giving details of his wealth, additional director general (headquarters) Ravinder Kumar said the retired engineer owned a two-storied palatial building worth over Rs 50 lakh at Vaishali’s district headquarters town of Hajipur.

There were documents relating to purchase of different plots of land worth over Rs 1 crore in Hajipur. He had also purchased six flats in the name of his relatives in Patna, Pune and Delhi. Three vehicles and gold jewellery worth Rs 3.68 lakh were also seized.

The ADG (headquarters) said Kumar has around Rs 20 lakh in bank deposits and had investments worth Rs 3 lakh in insurance policies. “The team also came to know of his other bank accounts and lockers, which would be operated upon later,” he said.

In another operation, EOU officials searched the office and residential premises of irrigation department superintending engineer Bharat Purve, posted at Muzaffarpur, and found disproportionate assets worth Rs 1.41 crore.

The ADG (headquarters) said the raiding teams searched Purve’s office at Ramdayalu Nagar in Muzaffarpur, a flat at Bahadurpur in Patna and his ancestral home at Bahera in Darbhanga respectively. The search yielded Rs 5.28 lakh in cash, Rs 39 lakh in bank deposits and gold ornaments worth Rs 20.60 lakh, he said. The team has so far come across immovable property worth Rs 66.08 lakh and movable property worth Rs 75.41 lakh. Purve had also booked two flats in an under-construction apartment at Kumharar in Patna.

Since its inception in 2012, the EOU police station in Patna has registered 20 disproportionate assets cases against public servants.