The former agent of the Madhya Pradesh Department of Transportation, Saurabh Sharma, accused of accumulating disproportionate assets by Crore’s value, was arrested by Lokayukta police on Thursday after fleeing for more than a month.
Mr. Sharma, who arrived at the headlines after multiple agencies raided locations linked to him in December recovering assets by Crore, was arrested a day after he submitted a request for delivery before a court.
Jaideep Prasad, general director of Lokayukta, told journalists that he was arrested and was being interrogated.
“Saurabh Sharma, against whom a case has been registered in the Lokayukt organization under the corruption prevention law, has been arrested. The interrogation is underway, and after questioning it, it will be arrested and presented in the Court within 24 hours, ”said Prasad, that the officers are interrogating him about his associates and his whereabouts while he was fusing.
His associates will also be arrested soon, said the DG, Lokayukta.
“Our police had been active since yesterday (Monday) when we knew the possibility of his presence in Bhopal,” he added.
However, Mr. Sharma’s lawyer, Rakesh Parashar, described the “illegal” arrest saying that he was scheduled to appear before the court on Tuesday morning, but was arrested before that.
Mr. Sharma had been appointed agent in the State’s Department of Transportation for compassionate reasons in 2015 after his father’s death. He, however, opted for voluntary retirement in 2023.
In addition to Lokayukta, several agencies, such as the Income Tax Department and the Directorate of Control of the Law, have also launched their own investigations against him after making raids.
In the first set of raids in their locations on December 18 and 20, Lokayukta teams had unearthed assets of approximately RS7.9 million rupees, including jewels, more than 230 kg of silver and RS2.87 million rupees in cash.
The IT department had also seized a car with RS10 million rapias in cash and 52 kg of gold on the outskirts of Bhopal, which turned out to be registered under the name of Mr. Sharma’s associate Sharma Cetan Singh Gaud.
Other searches for the agencies also recovered millions of rupees that value the supposedly accumulated assets through corrupt practices and intermediation agreements for appointments and transfers.
A summons had also been issued to Mr. Sharma’s wife, the mother, Mr. Gaud and another associate.
Published – January 29, 2025 02:04 am ist
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