Fresh raids at premises linked to ex-RTO constable Saurabh Sharma; assets worth crores recovered

Bhopal, Jan 20 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted fresh round of raids at the premises of ex-RTO constable Saurabh Sharma and his associated and recovered illegal properties of worth several crores. The raids were carried out at various premises situated in Bhopal and Gwalior districts of Madhya Pradesh and in Pune (Maharashtra) on January 17, the ED said in a statement on Monday.

"During the search operations, account balances in the bank accounts amounting to Rs 30 lakh was frozen and unexplained cash of Rs 12 lakh and silver amounting to 9.9 kg of worth around Rs 9.17 lakh were seized," the ED statement read.

The agency has also recovered digital devices and copies of property documents, it added.

Further investigation in the matter was underway, it added.

The searches were carried out on the basis of FIR registered by Special Police Establishment (SPE) of Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police against Saurabh Sharma.

"Scrutiny of said FIR revealed that Saurabh Sharma has amassed disproportionate assets worth crores of rupees in the name of his family members and associated firms and companies," the ED statement read.

Earlier, the ED had conducted raids at the premises of Saurabh Sharma and his associates on December 27, 2024.

Besides ED, Income Tax Department and the Special Establishment Police (SEP) of state Lokayukta has also carried out separate searches at several premiers of Sharma and his associates in multiple locations.

The first recovery took place during a Lokayukta raid last week, where anti-corruption officials discovered that Sharma was in possession of movable assets worth Rs 7.98 crore, including Rs 2.87 crore in cash and 235 kg of silver.

Subsequently, the Income Tax Department conducted another raid, uncovering 52 kg of gold bars worth Rs 40 crore and over Rs 11 crore in cash from an abandoned SUV in Bhopal.

Following the Lokayukta FIR, the ED has launched a money laundering investigation against Sharma, and raids were held in Bhopal, Gwalior, and Jabalpur on December 27, and also seized financial documents, assets, and electronic data from laptops and computers at various locations.

Source: IANS