Vigilance raids yield disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.15 cr

Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) raided a Superintending Engineer (SE) working with the state Building Construction Department (BCD) and recovered disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.15 crore from him.
VIB officials today said the raids and searches at residence of Satya Narayan Mahto, posted in Muzaffarpur, began on March 4 and were conducted at his office and residences in Muzaffarpur, Samastipur and Patna simultaneously.
The raids yielded huge amount of wealth, including ornaments worth Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 1.04 lakh cash, the officials said.
The accused has also invested around Rs 2.72 crore in his own, as well as, wife, son and daughter's name in various finance and banking companies.

"We recovered 130 investment certificates and 28 bonds belonging to Sahara finance company kept in a cupboard at Mahto's residence in Muzaffarpur. The rest of the investment papers are being verified," said a VIB official.
The sleuths also seized 13 land related documents during the raid.

The accused had purchased land at various places in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Samastipur and Patna districts with most bought during the last six years in the name of his family.
"Mahto is getting a hotel constructed in his son's name on one of the plots in Muzaffarpur. Apart from the 13 land documents, our sleuths have also discovered that he bought a 4,000 square feet land in Khajpura area in the state capital and built a two-storeyed house," said the VIB official.

The official said the total cost of the land and the buildings made over them would come to around Rs 3 crore.
"Altogether 14 bank accounts belonging to Mahto have been discovered at various places in the state. They contain around Rs 35.5 lakh and we are corresponding with the banks to freeze them. We have seized passbooks of four other bank accounts are verifying the deposits in them," the official said.
The VIB has also seized 15 life insurance policies belonging to various companies. These are in the name of the Mahto and his family members.
A case of disproportionate assets under sections 13 (2) and 13 (1) (e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has been registered at VIB police station in Patna against the accused.