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Disproportionate assets: Ex-RTO constable Saurabh Sharma arrested before surrender
The Lokayukta, ED and the I-T department have been probing him to find out how he amassed property and wealth of more than ₹95 crore in seven years of his service as a constable.
In a dramatic turn of events, the Lokayukta Police on Tuesday arrested former regional transport office constable Saurabh Sharma from outside the court premises moments before his surrender after the sleuths seized gold bars worth ₹52 crore from his partner’s car in December 2024, officials said.
Lokayukta director general Jaydeep Prasad confirmed the arrest and said Sharma was being interrogated at the Lokayukta office. Sharma’s lawyer Rakesh Parashar said his client was going to appear before the court at 11am on Tuesday, a day after he submitted the application for surrender before the district court. But the Lokayukta Police arrested him before he could surrender.
His wife Divya Tiwari Sharma and mother Uma Sharma appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday and registered their statement during a four-hour questioning, officials said.
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Saurabh Sharma and Divya returned from Dubai on December 23, 2024, two days before a lookout notice was issued against him by the Income Tax department. They spent 40 days in Uttarakhand, Jammu and New Delhi.
On December 19, 2024, the Lokayukta team raided his house and office in Arera Colony, Bhopal, and found ₹2.95 crore in cash, gold and silver jewellery worth about ₹50 lakh, documents of properties, and 234kg silver.
Later, on the intervening night of December 19 and 20, the I-T department seized 52kg gold and ₹11 crore in cash from the car of his business partner Chetan Singh Gaur that was parked at a farmhouse in Bhopal.
The ED also raided 12 places linked to Sharma on December 27 and January 17.
The Lokayukta, ED and the I-T department have been probing him to find out how he amassed property and wealth of more than ₹95 crore in seven years of his service as a constable.
