The total salary of this government servant till date adds up to less than Rs 25 lakh, but his ‘actual earning’ in three decades is almost Rs 1 crore .
The man in question is Bhuwaneshar Prasad Singh, assistant godown manager of State Food Corporation (SFC).
The economic offences unit (EOU) of the Bihar police unearthed disproportionate assets worth Rs 1.07 crore belonging to Prasad, who is at present posted as assistant godown manager of the State Food Corporation in Purnea. Prasad’s office and residence were searched by the EOU officials on Friday.
Giving details of the search operation, additional director general (law and order) S.K. Bhardwaj said Prasad’s immovable assets worth Rs 84.56 lakh and movable property worth Rs 22.70 lakh were detected. The price of the assets has not been assessed at market rate, he said.
The documents seized during the search revealed that Prasad had purchased two plots of land measuring 136.10 dismal in Purnea in the name of his spouse Sarita Devi and son Rahul Kumar. In addition, he had a two-storied building near Majhauli Chowk in Purnea. The palatial building has been constructed recently.
“The value of the building is being assessed by the officials concerned (read engine-ers),” he said, adding that the man in question had Rs 9.20 lakh in different bank accounts.
During the search, the members of the team seized Rs 5.26 lakh in cash from his residence and documents related to investments worth over Rs 5 lakh in different insurance policies. He had also purchased an SUV and a motorbike in the name of his son Rahul, Bhardwaj said.
The officials, however, couldn’t recover much gold jewellery from the house as informed earlier. Gold jewellery worth Rs 1.45 lakh were seized by the economic offences unit team, the additional director general said, adding that the search continued till the last reports came in.
An investigating officer said Prasad had joined the department about three decades ago and received less than Rs 25 lakh as salary from the state government. “The total amount paid to the officer in question as salary till date is less than Rs 25 lakh. But he has accumulated property worth over Rs 1 crore,” he added.
Bhardwaj said a disproportionate assets case has already been lodged with the EOU police station in Patna against the assistant manager.
Corruption arrest
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths on Friday arrested a senior official of the State Bank of India from Begusarai on corruption charges. Sanjeev Kumar Gyani, posted at Devna industrial area branch of the bank, has been accused of demanding bribe from the applicants seeking loan from the bank. One Mohammad Aftab, a resident of Begusarai, had lodged a complaint with the CBI’s Patna branch against the official.
