CBI finds 6kg gold during searches in Raja case

The agency had carried out searches at 24 places during which, apart from the alleged gold, its sleuths found jewellery sets with precious stones, 20 kilograms of silver and upto 200 documents pertaining to various properties.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday said its investigators allegedly found multi-crore assets, including six kilograms of gold worth around Rs 1.24 crore, during searches carried out on the premises of 17 people on Wednesday as part of its probe into former telecom minister A Raja’s alleged disproportionate assets.

The agency had carried out searches at 24 places during which, apart from the alleged gold, its sleuths found jewellery sets with precious stones, 20 kilograms of silver and upto 200 documents pertaining to various properties, said a CBI spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the gold was allegedly recovered from the premises and bank lockers of the 17 case accused.

The 17 accused people included Raja and 16 of his relatives and close associates who were all named in the first information report (FIR).

“Details of fixed deposit receipts recovered during the searches are being collated and scrutinised by the agency,” said the spokesperson. The agency also recovered income tax returns, documents pertaining to share transactions that are being scrutinised.

The CBI on Wednesday had registered the fresh disproportionate assets case against Raja and 16 of his alleged “close associates” and relatives, including his wife and brother. The agency had later carried out searches at 24 locations, including 16 residential and eight office addresses, belonging to the accused.

The agency, in its FIR, accused Raja of allegedly amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 27.92 crore during 1999-2010 in the name of his 16 associates and relatives. The assets under CBI’s scanner were allegedly amassed from 1999 to 2010, a period that covered his four ministerial stints at the Centre and three stints as a Lok Sabha member.

The agency is set to seek details from the income tax department and banking authorities on the accused persons’ financial profile and transactions during the period.