The special vigilance unit (SVU) raided a 2014-batch Bihar cadre IPS officer Daya Shankar and his associates on Tuesday on the charges of corruption and possessing disproportionate assets.
Shankar is currently posted as the superintendent of police (SP) in Purnea.
The agency sleuths recovered movable and immovable property worth crores of rupees, including Rs 14 lakh in cash, jewellery worth Rs 72 lakh, apartments, shops, vehicles, bank passbooks and documents related to investment in real estate.
Among the valuables seized, Rs 2.96 lakh in cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 28 lakh were recovered from his official residence in Purnea. The IPS officer has two flats and a shop in an apartment in Patna.
Some documents discovered by the SVU showed that he spent Rs 67 lakh on the interiors of a flat. The officer also owned two luxury vehicles and two utility vehicles that were also recovered.
Over Rs 18 lakh have been found in the bank accounts of Shankar and his wife, who is a homemaker without any outside source of income. The associates of the IPS officer whose premises were searched as part of the raid include Purnea Sadar station house officer (SHO) Sanjay Kumar Singh, constable Niraj Kumar Singh, working as a reader to the SP, constable Sawan Kumar and a Patna-based builder. Part of the seized valuables was recovered from their locations.
“The total legitimate income of the IPS officer from all sources was computed to be Rs 1.10 crore while his expenditure amounted to around Rs 72.73 lakh. The
assets recovered so far from him and his associates surpass his income in a big way,” a senior SVU officer told The Telegraph.
SVU sources said that there were indications that Shankar possessed several illegal properties and was also investing in real estate in a big way.
The income tax department will also be roped in to carry out an investigation into his wealth.
An FIR has been registered against the accused under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy). The raid was still going on till the time of filing the report.
