Patna, March 31 The Bihar police on Tuesday recovered property documents, large sums of cash deposits, and valuable items worth crores of rupees from two senior state government officials 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 registered separate FIRs against the two senior officials on Sunday, allegedly for holding disproportionate assets.
The officers who were booked were Kishanganj SDPO Gautam Kumar and Saharsa District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) director Vaibhav Kumar.
Searches were carried out at six locations, each belonging to the two accused, following warrants from a Special Vigilance Court in Patna, the police said.
According to the statement, preliminary findings suggest that Gautam Kumar allegedly amassed assets valued 60.27 per cent more than his declared income, while Vaibhav Kumar held assets in excess of 78.03 per cent of his known income.
"Documents related to 25 land parcels, suspected to be benami properties, were recovered from Gautam Kumar's residence in Purnea. A four-storey house built over 3,600 sq ft, estimated to be worth around Rs 2.5 crore, was also found," the statement read.
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. Information has 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.
"Documents related to seven land plots and jewellery worth about Rs 60 lakh were seized from the residence of the friend. Evidence of cash deposits and online transfers made by Kumar into her bank account was also found," the statement read.
In Vaibhav Kumar's case, the EOU found records of investments in insurance and pension schemes, over Rs 20 lakh in bank account deposits, and evidence of the purchase of 16 land parcels in the names of family members in Muzaffarpur and Patna.
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.