The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday registered a case against an employee of the Power Development Department (PDD) and his family here after he was found in possession of assets worth crores of rupees which were highly disproportionate to his known source of income, officials said.
The case was registered after a verification revealed that Meter Reader in PDD Surinder Singh had accumulated both immovable as well as moveable assets which included 7.8 acres of land in various parts of Jammu, one banquet hall, one gym and construction business which was beyond the reach of a public servant of his stature, a spokesperson of the ACB said. Apart from this, he said, moveable properties in the form of one Audi car, two Scorpio, one tractor and a motorcycle were found in his possession during the verification conducted. Singh, posted in PDD at Gandhi Nagar, was found in possession of immovable property worth crores of rupees in his own name and in the names of his family members and accordingly a case was registered against him, his son Kunal Singh and wife Meenakshi Bandral and others under relevant sections of the law, the spokesperson said. He said a preliminary assessment of both immovable and moveable assets had revealed that the accused and his family members were in possession of assets worth Rs 2.37 crores, which were highly disproportionate to their known sources of income. “In order to avoid scrutiny before the eyes of the law, the assets were disguised in the names of the accused’s wife and son.
It was also shown that the wife was running a construction business whereas verification has revealed that she does not possess enough resources to create so many assets,” the spokesperson said. He said the verification had also revealed that the construction business was only an eyewash to disguise the unaccounted money which was pumped into the creation of the immoveable and moveable assets. After registration of the FIR against the accused and his family members, the spokesperson said search warrants were obtained and searches were conducted on various locations and incriminating documents and articles have been recovered which are under scrutiny.
He said bank accounts of the accused and his family members are also being scrutinised besides details are being collected for the presence of lockers maintained by Singh and his family members.
