Jabalpur, Oct 27 : The Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta on Tuesday conducted searches at multiple premises of a commercial tax officer in Jabalpur, Sagar and Bhopal in a disproportionate assets case, detecting assets and expenditure worth Rs 3.78 crore, officials said.
Lokayukta Deputy Superintendent of Police Neetu Tripathi said the operation was underway in the three districts following information about assets disproportionate to the known income of an Assistant Commissioner and Commercial Tax Officer posted in Damoh.
"He was posted in Jabalpur for a long time," Tripathi said, adding that the searches were being conducted as part of the investigation into the allegations.
The officer, Manish Kumar Jain, was posted in Damoh at the time of the action. The searches were conducted at his residence in Reliable Developer Colony in Jabalpur and other premises linked to him and his family.
According to the Lokayukta, Superintendent of Police Anjulata Patle received a complaint alleging that Jain had accumulated assets beyond his known sources of income.
Inspector Brij Mohan Singh Narwaria verified the complaint, and the allegations were found to be prima facie correct. A case was subsequently registered against Jain under Sections 13(1)(b) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018.
The preliminary investigation revealed several properties in Jabalpur, Bhopal and Banda town of Sagar district, including plots and houses registered in the names of Jain and his family members. These include a 278.74-square-metre plot in Jabalpur valued at around Rs 1.43 crore and a 116.14-square-metre plot in the name of his wife, Nidhi Jain, estimated at Rs 95 lakh.
Another plot in her name, on which a bungalow has been constructed, was valued at around Rs 22.87 lakh.
The investigation also identified a flat in Bhopal and properties in Banda registered in the names of Jain's parents, Shashi Jain and Komal Chand Jain. The officer and his family members had also taken insurance policies involving an estimated expenditure of Rs 33.93 lakh, officials said.
According to the Lokayukta, Jain's total known income was calculated at Rs 1.03 crore, while expenditure of Rs 3.78 crore had been detected during the investigation so far. The expenditure was 264.64 per cent disproportionate to his known income.
The searches and investigation were continuing, Tripathi said.
