The CBI on Tuesday seized 17 kilograms of gold worth Rs 9.5 crore, Rs 1.57 crore in cash and savings instruments worth over Rs 5.3 crore besides property documents following searches and locker operation against a retired Railway Principal Chief Commercial Manager in Bhubaneswar, Pramod Kumar Jena, accused of possessing disproportionate assets.
“A cash amount of Rs 1.57 crore, postal saving instruments/bank fixed deposits (FDs) of Rs 3.33 crore, bank balance of Rs 1.51 crore, mutual fund of Rs 47.75 lakh, gold bars, gold biscuits/coins and gold jewellery of 17 kg (value at approximately Rs 9.5 crore) and documents related to immovable properties were found from the bank locker/premises of accused and others including family members/relatives etc.,” the CBI said in a statement.
Jena, a 1989-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer who retired in November last year, has been booked for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The CBI had registered a case on January 3 against then Principal Chief Operation Manager (IRTS officer), East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar on the allegations of possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs 1.92 crore during the check period April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2020 in his name and his family members, the CBI said in a statement.
Searches were conducted at various places including Bhubaneswar, Jagatsinghpur (both in Odisha) and Kolkata.
“During searches, three locker keys of lockers in the name of the wife of the accused and other five locker keys of lockers whose owners’ names were not readily available. Therefore, after strenuous efforts, the name of the owners of the lockers as well as the locker numbers and bank branches were found out. Seven lockers have been operated till now and the remaining locker is being operated,” it said.
"The accused railway official’s wife Rosina Jena is a housewife with no big source of income, but she regularly files lTR (Income tax returns). PK Jena had no other source of income except his own salary and rental income. The daughters of Jena are also filing lT returns," an official said, quoting from the FIR.
In locker after locker, the illicit wealth kept coming out, officials said, adding that the searches are still going on and some more lockers will be checked.
In its FIR, the agency alleged that at the start of the check period on April 1, 2005, Jena had assets worth Rs 4.53 lakh in the form of bank balances and plots, which spiralled to over Rs 4.33 crore at the end of the period on March 31, 2020, they said.
"Information disclosed that after giving the benefit of incomes as mentioned in their Income-Tax Returns, the total income of PK Jena and his family members from all known sources was to the tune of Rs 3.25 crore during the check period from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2020," it alleged.
After calculating his income and expenses incurred during the corresponding period, the CBI alleged that there was no satisfactory explanation for Rs 1.92 crore of assets which it said were 59.09 per cent over his genuine sources of income.
