JOIN USPremises of Bihar crorepati clerk raided
Thirty-four years ago, Surendra Kumar Yadav joined Bihar government service as a lower division clerk (LDC) at a meagre salary of Rs 250 per month. Till 2013, Yadav, now promoted and posted as food inspector in Patna, had earned Rs 25 lakh from salary since 1979.
But on Wednesday, when the Vigilance sleuths swooped down on his five-storey residence in Kankarbagh, they stumbled upon his assets – moveable as well as immoveable – to the tune of Rs 25 crore, which were disproportionate to his known source of income.The wealth allegedly amassed illegally all these years included huge cash, one kg gold, half kg silver, 38 cottah plot (valued at Rs 15 crore), 23 acres of land at Rajgir, six bank accounts, two lockers, besides another land where he ran an ITI institute.
The food inspector, who was promoted six years after joining as a clerk, was posted in Patna since 2008 as a food inspector responsible for monitoring the food quality in different hotels, restaurants, fast food joints and other eateries in the state capital.
Yadav, in the last two years, had earned a bad name by raiding sweet shops, food joints and hotels at his whims and earning huge amounts in lieu of giving clearances. “Recently, he was reported to have been paid Rs 15 lakh by a multinational fast food chain, whose shop he had shut down for over a fortnight in the name of not having a valid licence” said a vigilance source.
Yadav, who was not present when his multi-storey posh residence was being raided, was in the process of opening a medical and dental college at tourist spot in Rajgir under the name of Buddha Educational Trust.
“For quite sometime, we had been getting complaints that he was on the pay roll of several sweet shops, hotels, restaurants, malls and other commercial establishments. It’s amazing to find that a person who, at present, draws a salary of Rs 35,000 per month could have assets more than Rs 25 crore,” the source alleged. The valuations might go up after his bank lockers are opened, the source said.