Two senior Bihar government officers are under investigation for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets, leading to searches and the discovery of significant property and financial discrepancies.
Key Points
- Two Bihar government officers, Gautam Kumar and Vaibhav Kumar, are being investigated for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to their known income.
- The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) conducted searches at multiple locations, uncovering property documents, cash deposits, luxury vehicles, and other valuable items.
- Preliminary findings suggest Gautam Kumar's assets exceed his disclosed income by 60.27%, while Vaibhav Kumar's assets are 78.03% more than his known income.
- Investigators found evidence of benami properties, investments in insurance and financial institutions, and alleged links to criminal mafias.
- The investigation is ongoing, with family members and associates of the accused also implicated in the case.
The Bihar police on Tuesday recovered property documents, huge cash deposits and valuable items worth crores of rupees from two senior state government officers during a search operation.
According to a statement issued by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police, high-end vehicles and luxury watches were also found during the search.
The EOU on Sunday registered separate FIRs against the two senior officials for allegedly holding disproportionate assets.
The booked officers were Kishanganj SDPO Gautam Kumar and Saharsa District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) director Vaibhav Kumar.
Searches were carried out at six locations each of the two accused, following warrants from a Special Vigilance Court in Patna, police said.
According to the statement, preliminary findings suggest that Gautam Kumar allegedly amassed assets valued 60.27 per cent more than his disclosed income, while Vaibhav Kumar held assets in excess of 78.03 per cent of his known income.
Details of Gautam Kumar's Alleged Assets
"Documents related to 25 land parcels, suspected to be benami properties, were recovered from Gautam Kumar's Purnea residence. A four-storey house built over 3,600 sq ft, estimated to be worth around Rs 2.5 crore, was also found," read the statement.
Investigators discovered records of investments in insurance and financial institutions, bills worth over Rs 1 crore related to construction materials, luxury watches, and high-end vehicles, it added.
Rs 1.37 lakh in cash and investment documents were recovered from Gautam's government residence. Inputs have also emerged regarding alleged assets including a tea garden in West Bengal's Siliguri, and properties in Noida and Gurugram, officials said.
The EOU further claimed to have found indications of Kumar's alleged links with coal, liquor and lottery mafias, as well as contract traffickers.
According to the statement, Gautam's wife, mother-in-law and a friend have also been named as co-accused in the case.
"From the residence of the friend, documents related to seven land plots and jewellery worth about Rs 60 lakh were seized. Evidence of cash deposits and online transfers made by Kumar into her bank account was also found," the statement read.
Details of Vaibhav Kumar's Alleged Assets
In Vaibhav Kumar's case, the EOU found records of investments in insurance and pension schemes, over Rs 20 lakh in bank account deposit, and evidence of purchase of 16 land parcels in Muzaffarpur and Patna in names of family members.
An industrial training institute in Muzaffarpur, built at an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 crore, vehicle documents, and a frozen bank locker were also recovered, they added.
As per the EOU statement, documents related to two vehicles were seized.
A charitable trust had been set up to run educational institutions, with Kumar's father acting as its manager, the statement added.
Further investigation is underway, the EOU said.
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