lokayukta police raided the residence of a senior Agriculture Department officer and seized movable as well as immovable assets worth over Rs5 crore, disproportionate to his known sources of income.
“We have raided the official residence of Agriculture Director DN Sharma in the 74 Bungalows area after definite leads about wealth he amassed which is highly disproportionate to his known sources of income,” lokayukta Superintendent of Police Birendra Singh told.
“So far, we have seized documents related to three houses in Bhopal, 26 acres of land in Raisen, besides three acres of land in areas adjoining the state capital including Bagh Mughalia, Raipuria and Samardha,” he said.
A four-wheeler, a motorcycle, domestic goods worth Rs 42 lakh, gold and silver ornaments worth Rs18.5 lakh as well as Rs5.5 lakh in cash were also seized, he said.
lokayukta sleuths also seized documents related to 20 bank documents, two lockers and investments in five companies, the lokayukta said, adding, the total value of assets recovered so far amounts to more than Rs5 crore.
A case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against Sharma and further investigations are on, the lokayukta said.
Sharma has been in controversy right from the beginning. Since, the lokayukta police had received complaints of corruption against him, he was sacked from the post. In September, 2014, BJP MlA Hemant Khandelwal had complained against Sharma with the Chief Minister and then he was removed from the post of Director in Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare department.