The Economic Offences Unit of the Bihar police on Thursday conducted simultaneous raids at two locations linked to Manish Kumar, an accountant at the Hajipur Municipal Council office, on charges of amassing disproportionate assets. The investigation was initiated following a corruption complaint against Kumar, prompting the probe agency to register a case and secure a search warrant from the Special Vigilance Court in Muzaffarpur.
Search Operations and Initial Asset Findings
An Economic Offences Unit team arrived in Hajipur early Thursday morning to initiate search operations at Kumar’s residence in Bagmali and his office premises at the Hajipur Municipal Council. During the raids, investigators discovered prima facie evidence indicating the accumulation of assets worth Rs 2,02,31,500 in excess of his known sources of income. This figure represents an amount approximately 208.57 percent higher than his legitimate income. In an official statement, agency officials confirmed that transactions regarding Rs 10 lakh deposited across different bank accounts belonging to Kumar have been restricted. The complete details regarding the total value of the accountant’s assets will be made available once the search operations conclude.
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Parallel Corruption Investigation Involving Bureaucrats
In a separate operation, Economic Offences Unit sleuths carried out searches at the official residence of senior IAS officer Sanjeev Hans in Patna in connection with an ongoing multi-crore tender scam. Hans was not present at his home at the time of the search operation. This development follows the prior suspension of two other senior IAS officers, Yogesh Kumar Sagar of the 2017 batch and Abhilasha Kumari Sharma of the 2014 batch, who are both facing serious allegations of money laundering.
Contractor Arrest and Enforcement Directorate Inquiry
The widening investigation into the tender fraud and money laundering case previously saw the arrest of a contractor, Rishu Shree, by the Special Vigilance Unit on May 28. A day prior to his arrest, a search conducted at his house by the probe agency yielded Rs 2.5 lakh in cash alongside jewellery valued at Rs two crores. Both suspended IAS officers have been accused of receiving illicit favours from Shree. The Enforcement Directorate had earlier conducted a preliminary inquiry against the officers and subsequently wrote to the Special Vigilance Unit to initiate further legal action.
