Excise officer worth Rs 100 cr

The Lokayukta police have detected undisclosed assets worth over Rs 100 crore in simultaneous raids at seven premises of an assistant excise commissioner on Tuesday. The officer, Alok Khare, is currently posted in Indore.

A 70-member team of the Special Police Establishment (SPE) of the Lokayukta conducted raids at Khare’s properties in Bhopal, Indore, Raisen and Chhatarpur.

So far, the raids are reported to have yielded 15 lakh in cash, three kgs of gold and documents regarding immovable properties.

Lokayukta deputy superintendent of police Naveen Awasthi said initial investigation has disclosed assets worth over Rs 100 crore but the amount could go up, as many properties are yet to be detected.

“This could well be the biggest ever such a raid operation in Madhya Pradesh” (in terms of disclosure of undisclosed assets from a government officer’s possession), he said.

Documents seized in the raids have revealed Khare owns a luxurious bungalow and a penthouse in posh areas of Indore. In one of these, the police seized Rs 10 lakh in cash. The flat where the officer is residing was found locked. It has been sealed by the Lokayukta team.

In Bhopal, the excise officer owns two big houses and a farmhouse, according to the raiding party. Two more farmhouses spread across 57 acres belonging to Khare have been detected in Raisen. Rs five lakh cash was also recovered from one of the farmhouses.

During the operation, the raiding parties have found more than a dozen luxury vehicles in three places owned by the officer.

Khare’s palatial house in Chhatarpur is also valued in several crore of rupees. The excise officer had been filing income tax returns in the name of his wife who, he claimed, is earning income through fruit farming in Raisen district.