Sleuths from the economic offences unit of the Bihar police on Sunday raided a building construction department executive engineer posted in New Delhi and unearthed unaccounted wealth running into several crores.
The engineer, identified as Feroze Alam, is at present resident engineer at Bihar Bhavan, Bihar Nivas and Bihar Sadan — the state government property in the capital.
These three buildings provide affordable accommodation and dining services to legislators, government officials and eminent people from Bihar during their visit to Delhi.
An FIR was registered against the engineer under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on July 28 at the EOU police station and investigations were initiated before conducting the raid on Alam’s two residential and two office premises in Delhi, and another residence in Patna.
According to the sleuths, Alam, a native of Hariharganj in Jharkhand’s Palamu district, had joined as a junior engineer in the BCD in April 1991. He served at several places, including Darbhanga and Biharsharif.
Preliminary estimates suggest that the sleuths have found unaccounted movable and immovable assets worth Rs 2.62 crore, which is around 91 per cent more than his total income from legal sources. The final figure is expected to increase by several times.
“Alam’s activities during his service tenure were suspicious and controversial. He was accused of financial irregularities. He did not inherit any paternal property, nor had any other source of income other than the salary provided by the government. He had set up a company that served as a front to manage his ill-gotten wealth,” EOU SP Sushil Kumar said.
EOU sources said the executive engineer has bought a flat worth at least Rs 1.3 crore in New Friends Colony and another at Jamia Nagar in New Delhi in his wife’s name. He also purchased a flat in the name of his younger brother in Patna. The sleuths have also discovered several property-related documents belonging to him. These include four flats at Jamia Nagar and Shaheen Bagh localities in Delhi, land plots at Meerut and other places.
Alam and his wife also possessed gold ornaments, costly cars and watches. He had purchased a car in the name of his nephew and rented it out at the Bihar Nivas.
