MP ex-constable found in possession of Rs 8 crore moveable assets, including Rs 234 kg silver

Bhopal: A former Madhya Pradesh transport department constable has been found in possession of Rs 7.98-crore worth of moveable assets, including Rs 2.87-crore in cash and 234 kilograms of silver, a top official of the anti-corruption Lokayukta Police said on Monday.

The Lokayukta's Special Police Establishment (SPE) has seized these assets after recovering them from premises linked to former constable Saurabh Sharma. Searches at the residence and office of Sharma were conducted by the Lokayukta police on December 18 and 19, he said.

Lokayukta Police Director General Jaideep Prasad said Saurabh Sharma's father RK Sharma was a government doctor and died in 2015.

Afterwards, Saurabh Sharma got appointed as a constable in the state transport department on compassionate ground in 2015 and took voluntary retirement in 2023, the IPS officer said.

Sharma used money earned through corrupt means to amass huge assets, including setting up a school and hotel in the name of his mother, wife, sister-in-law and close associates Chetan Singh Gaud and Sharad Jaiswal, he said.

During searches at his residence in E-7 Sector of Arera Colony, Rs 1.15-crore (including foreign currency) in cash, jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh and other assets, including vehicles, worth Rs 2.21 crore were recovered. After raids at his office in the same location, Rs 1.72 crore in cash, 234 kg of silver worth Rs 2.10 crore and other assets worth Rs 3 crore were also found, Prasad informed.

So far, Rs 7.98 crore worth of moveable assets have been found during searches at locations linked to Sharma, the Lokayukta police official said.

Summons have been issued to Saurabh Sharma, his wife, mother and two associates Gaud and Jaiswal, asking them to appear for questioning, he said.

The income tax department has also seized cash and gold from Sharma's associate Gaud. Bank details and land documents found during the searches are being scrutinised, Prasad said.

In a separate action on December 19, the income tax department had seized over Rs 10 crore in cash and more than 50 kilograms of gold from a car owned by Gaud on the outskirts of Bhopal.