Bihar: Transport official in Vigilance net for graft

Sleuths from Bihar’s Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) on Thursday searched the private and official residences of Muzaffarpur’s district transport officer (DTO) who has allegedly amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income

Sleuths from Bihar’s Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) on Thursday searched the private and official residences of Muzaffarpur’s district transport officer (DTO) who has allegedly amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

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Sleuths swooped on Rajnish Lal’s three flats at Kankerbagh in Patna and his official residence in Muzaffarpur and recovered over ₹50 lakh in cash, besides gold and silver ornaments, VIB officials said, adding that the officer had been detained and was being questioned.

They said assets worth ₹1.24 crore had already been seized and the amount could go higher since the searches and verification of various documents of his movable and immovable property were still underway.

Lal, a 1999-batch officer of Bihar Administrative Services (BAS), has been Muzaffarpur DTO since February 3, 2020. On March 9 this year, he was given additional charge of Chapra DTO.

In January this year, the Muzaffarpur police led by deputy superintendent of police Ram Naresh Paswan had his office after allegations that he was helping miscreants in forging fake registration papers for stolen vehicles by changing engine and chassis numbers.

During his tenure in Chapra, DTO employees allegedly collected bribes from transporters and drivers of trucks carrying illegally mined sand.

“No truck could cross Saran district without paying money to Lal. If anyone tried to escape, his men would chase down the driver and beat him to extort money with the help of local police,” said a truck driver, Satyendra Kumar, who frequently plies on the route.