Patna: Anti-corruption sleuths in Bihar have registered a disproportionate assets (DA) case against a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was found making negligible withdrawal from his salary during his 21-year service with the police department.
The official in question identified as Rakesh Kumar Dubey was accused of accumulating unaccounted wealth worth Rs25.6 million, which is 85 per cent more than his known sources of income. He is the first IPS officer from the state made accused in a DA case.
The accused official now under suspension for his alleged links with the sand mining mafia had served as the Aide-De-Camp (ADC) to the Governor for four years and was also awarded with the Police Medal for Meritorious Services in 2016.
Acting on a tip-off, the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) sleuths on Thursday carried out simultaneous raids on various locations of the IPS officers in Bihar, Jharkhand and Noida (Uttar Pradesh) to search his properties after his links with the illegal sand mining mafias was established. The sleuths were literally surprised when they found only negligible withdrawal from his salary account during his more than two decade-long service period in the police department.
“During investigation we found that the man had made just partial withdrawal of cash from his entire 21-year-old service period and yet he led a lavish life with his family,” an EOU official said wishing not to be named.
Additional director general of EOU, Nayyar Hasnain Khan said the raids were carried out after obtaining warrant from the competent court. “During the searches, the EOU found a transaction of Rs2.5 million in the bank account of a construction company. Dubey also amassed properties in the names of his mother and sister, and invested in hotel, real estate firms and also wedding hall business,” Khan told the media on Thursday evening.
“But what was most surprising, the accused officer was also found lending money in millions on interest in the market and earning millions of rupees as interest every month,” an EOU official said. He also bought expensive plots at several locations, the official said.
Dubey was on the radar of the anti-corruption sleuths since March this year after they discovered his links with the illegal sand mining mafias during his posting as the superintendent of police in Bhojpur district. Sone river, the hub of illegal sand mining mafias, flows by the side of this district located in cen-tral Bihar.
Last year, the state government had dismissed 85 policemen for their involvement in corruption while many more are still facing departmental proceedings for similar reasons. The government has also tak-en action against 644 policemen for showing negligence towards duty.