Lokayukta Police seize ₹8 crore assets, including ₹3 crore cash, from ex-Constable in Madhya Pradesh

Lokayukta conducts at the residence of a former Transport Department constable and recover 40 kg of silver and bundles of notes, in Bhopal on December 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

A former constable in Madhya Pradesh has been found in possession of assets of ₹7.98 crore, including ₹2.87 crore in cash and 234 kg of silver, a top Lokayukta Police official said.

The Lokayukta’s Special Police Establishment (SPE) seized these assets from premises linked to former constable Saurabh Sharma after searches at his residence and office in Bhopal on December 18 and 19, the official said on Monday (December 23, 2024).

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

Afterwards, Mr. Saurabh Sharma got appointed as a constable in the State Transport Department on compassionate ground in 2015 and took voluntary retirement in 2023, he said.

The former cop 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, the official said.

During searches at his residence in E-7 Sector of Arera Colony, cash with a face value of ₹1.15 crore (including foreign currency), jewellery of ₹50 lakh and other assets, including vehicles, valued at ₹2.21 crore were recovered, he said.

After raids at his office in the same location, ₹1.72 crore in cash, 234 kg of silver valued at ₹2.10 crore and other assets of ₹3 crore were also found, Mr. Prasad informed.

So far, moveable assets of ₹7.98 crore have been found during searches at locations linked to the former constable, the Lokayukta police official said.

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

The Income Tax department has also seized cash and gold from Mr. Gaud. Bank details and land documents found during the searches were being scrutinised, Mr. Prasad said.

In a separate action on December 19, the I-T department seized more than ₹10 crore in cash and over 50 kg of gold from a car owned by Mr. Gaud on the outskirts of Bhopal.