Bhopal, Dec 27: The ED on Friday conducted searches at multiple locations in Madhya Pradesh as part of a money-laundering probe against a former transport department official who was recently searched by the Lokayukta police on allegations of possession of disproportionate assets, official sources said.
The federal agency is also probing into a “linked” seizure of gold and cash worth about Rs 52 crore from an abandoned SUV.
Raids are being undertaken at about eight premises in state capital Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur. The premises are linked to the family and associates of Saurabh Sharma — the official under the scanner, the sources said.
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A security team from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) is assisting the search parties, they said.
The former official and his associates are under the scanner of three probe agencies — the state Lokayukyta, Income-Tax Department, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The Lokayukta police recovered assets worth more than Rs 7.98 crore during the recent searches conducted at locations linked to the former official.
Following this, on December 19, the Income-Tax Department seized 52 kilogrammes of gold bars worth Rs 40 crore and more than Rs 10 crore in cash from an abandoned SUV in Bhopal.
The vehicle was found registered in the name of one Chetan Singh Gaud, a “close associate” of Sharma, sources had said.
The sources said the two instances could be “linked and that an investigation is underway to ascertain the facts”.
According to the Lokayukta, Sharma was appointed as a constable in the transport department on compassionate grounds in 2015 and took voluntary retirement in 2023. His father, a government doctor, died in 2015, according to the special police establishment of the Madhya Pradesh government.
The Lokayukta alleged that Sharma earned money through corrupt means, including setting up a school and a hotel in the name of his mother, wife, sister-in-law and close associates Gaud and Sharad Jaiswal, officials said.
A lookout circular has been issued against Sharma by the Income-Tax Department, according to the officials.
He is stated to be out of the country, possibly Dubai, the sources said. (PTI)
