Vigilance investigation bureau sleuths conducted simultaneous raids at the offices and residences of the Kaimur district transport officer and motor vehicle inspector on Wednesday.
A 38-member team, comprising four deputy superintendents of police, also raided the government checkpost near Mohania on the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border and found Rs 5.28 lakh more than money collected as entry tax from owners of private vehicles and transporters.
While the district transport officer, Animesh Kumar Singh, was taken into custody for interrogation, motor vehicle inspector Rakesh Kumar escaped after scaling the boundary wall of his residence in Mohania, around 140km west of Patna.
Head clerk at the district transport office Manoj Kumar Singh and his assistants Harendra Singh and Amarjeet Kumar were among the five persons detained by the bureau officials.
The search operation, which started at 6.30 in the morning, continued till 7pm on Wednesday.
"The official residence of motor vehicle inspector Rakesh at Mohania has been sealed. It will be searched in the presence of the officer concerned," a deputy superintendent of police who was heading the raid team said.
Rakesh was summoned to his office but the official didn't turn up either there or his residence, a member of the raiding team said.
Sources said the team recovered eight ATM cards and several passbooks from Animesh's residence.
Wednesday's raid followed a report submitted last year by then Rohtas superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande, suggesting an organised crime syndicate being run on National Highway 2 in the region.
Lande, who was also holding additional charge of Kaimur at the time, had seized 500 and odd coal-laden trucks.
The officials had realised a little over Rs 70 lakh as penalty from the truck operators for violating rules. "The racket was going on in collusion with a section of transport and commercial taxes officials and police authorities," the report sent to the police headquarters stated.
Based on a separate intelligence report, a Rohtas police team conducted a raid at Hathani village two weeks ago as well, and arrested Ashutosh Singh, the alleged kingpin of the racket. During interrogation, Ashutosh, who claimed to be an active RJD member, confessed to being involved in the illegal trade for about 14 years.
