Patna: The sleuths of the economic offences unit (EOU) of the state police on Saturday carried out simultaneous searches at the office and residential premises of motor vehicle inspector (MVI) Amitabh Kumar in Sheohar, Patna and Buxar districts and unearthed property worth several crores.

Amitabh, a resident of Kopwa village under Dumraon sub-division in Buxar, is currently MVI, Sheohar district. He was transferred to Sheohar from Patna a few months ago and is alleged to have accumulated disproportionate assets worth several crores in just six years of service.

The operation began around 9am and continued till late in the evening. During the search of his house at Anandpuri locality in Patna, EOU officials seized Rs 2 lakh in cash, seven passbooks of different banks, gold jewellery worth Rs 30 lakh and documents related to flats and plots of land in Patna and Delhi.

Amitabh, who joined the transport department as motor vehicle inspector in July 2011, has invested over Rs 14 lakh in insurance policies, spent lavishly on interiors of his house at Anandpuri. He is learnt to have a fleet of luxury cars in the names of his close relatives. He has also purchased a 2-cottah plot on Patna's Bailey road for his mother. What came as a surprise for the raiding team was that Amitabh was running a separate office from a flat in Patna when posted there. Documents were seized from the flat-cum-office during the raid, an official said.

Preliminary investigations show the seven accounts with State Bank of India, Bank of India, Andhra Bank and IDBI have over Rs 26 lakh in deposit. A shopping card issued to Amitabh was also recovered from his Anandpuri residence, the official said.

The EOU, which functions under director-general of police (DGP) P.K. Thakur, had on Friday registered a case of disproportionate assets against Amitabh and conducted searches on Saturday after getting court approval. Amitabh was not present at home at the time of the search operation. "He will soon be summoned and asked to depose before the EOU at its office," EOU inspector-general J.S. Gangwar said. Also, Amitabh's bank locker will soon be operated upon in his presence.

Before his posting in Patna, Amitabh had served as Samastipur MVI. A case under Section 13(1) (E) read with 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act has been lodged against the MVI.