The wealth of a plant protection officer facing graft probe by the CBI had allegedly shot from Rs 23 lakh to more than Rs 2 crore within a span of 18 months resulting in a new FIR against him for amassing disproportionate assets, officials said.
The CBI sleuths checked the assets of Padam Singh, a plant protection officer posted at Plant Quarantine station, Visakhapatnam who was booked for allegedly demanding Rs 6,000 in bribe, after receiving inputs that he had received cash deposit and bank transfer of funds in the accounts of his family members and relatives.
The investigation into his assets allegedly amassed during his posting in Visakhapatnam between December 2020 and July 2022 showed that his wealth had spiralled from Rs 23.29 lakh to Rs 2.12 crore during the period, they said.
The assets included cash over Rs 1.86 crore recovered during the searches, plots in Roorkee, gold jewellery worth over Rs 32 lakh, Rs 10 lakh in bank account among others, they said.
After considering his salary and interest which stood at Rs 11.62 lakh and deducting the expenditure incurred by him during the period, the CBI deduced that disproportionate assets amassed by Singh within 18 months stood at over Rs 1.98 crore which comes to 1704 per cent of his known sources of income which he could not satisfactorily account for, the CBI FIR said.
(With PTI inputs)
