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Constable to millionaire, a tale of graft in the transport department of MP

Jan 23, 2025 06:20 PM IST

Bhopal's Saurabh Sharma, a former RTO constable, became a millionaire in 7 years, evading authorities after multiple raids uncovered massive wealth.

Bhopal: Fugitive Saurabh Sharma, 42, rose from being a regional transport office (RTO) constable to a millionaire in a span of seven years in Bhopal. But the fantastic rise in Sharma’s wealth and his lavish life style did not go unnoticed; it started with neighbourhood gossip and whispers among colleagues. And, last year, on December 19, it led to the first raid by the Lokayukta at his home.

Saurabh Sharma rose from being a regional transport office (RTO) constable to a millionaire in a span of seven years in Bhopal (Representational)
Saurabh Sharma rose from being a regional transport office (RTO) constable to a millionaire in a span of seven years in Bhopal (Representational)

The raid was the first of many to come by multiple agencies. Since then, the enforcement directorate (ED) and the income tax (IT) department have been chasing him to find out how he amassed property and wealth of more than 95 crore in seven years of his service. Sharma continues to evade the authorities.

Following the Lokayukta’s raid at his home, IT officials raided his business partner

Chetan Singh Gaur’s car at a farm house in Bhopal and unearthed 52 kg gold and 11 crores. Soon after, the ED joined the investigation and registered a case of money laundering against him.

In the past one month, ED raided more than 12 offices and premises belonging to Sharma’s relatives suspected to be connected to the case. However, the three agencies have failed to catch him even after a month. Sharma’s advocate has claimed that money and gold belonged to politicians and bureaucrats.

Who is Saurabh Sharma?

Son of a doctor posted in a jail, Sharma struggled in the initial days of his career after he opened a dance and fitness club in Gwalior. Sharma’s father died in 2015 and on compassionate grounds, he was appointed as a constable in the transport department a year later. He worked as RTO constable for 12 years and took a voluntarily retirement from services (VRS) a year ago.

A police officer, who worked at the transport department on deputation, said: “Saurabh Sharma was given the responsibility of (supervising) 23 transport check posts out of 47 in Madhya Pradesh. He used to collect the money and distribute among people involved with him. He remained at the check post (job) until the year 2019. During the then Congress-led state government regime, he was shifted to the (transport checking) flying squad. Later, in 2020, the work of the check posts of Malwa Nimar was handed over to Sharma,” a transport department official said.

The official said Sharma’s application to take voluntary retirement was accepted in 2023 even though an inquiry was pending against him. He left before completing the three-month notice period after resigning, said a senior officer of the transport department.

On December 19 last year, a team of Lokayukta officials raided at his residence and an under-construction school in Bhopal. During the raid in Bhopal, 200 silver bars, each weighing one kilogram, were found in an underground locker at the office in his school. “More than 500 documents related to property, agreements, wills, passbooks and cheques were found in this office,” an official said.

“During searches at his residence in E-7 Sector of Arera Colony (Bhopal), cash valued of 1.15 crore (including foreign currency), jewellery worth 50 lakh and other assets, including vehicles, valued at 2.21 crore were recovered. After raids at his office in the same location, 1.72 crore in cash, 234 kg of silver valued at 2.10 crore and other assets of 3 crore were also found,” director general (special police establishment), Lokayukta, Jaideep Prasad said. Moveable assets of 7.98 crore were also detected and seized during searches at locations linked to the former constable.

On December 27, the ED, Bhopal zonal office, conducted more search operations in Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur districts of MP. According to an officer, “The search covered the residential premises of key persons including Saurabh Sharma, Chetan Singh Gaur, Sharad Jaiswal and Rohit Tiwari who were the suspected beneficiary of the Proceeds of Crime (POC) or have allegedly abetted in the laundering of the same.”

The ED initiated its investigation on the basis of FIR registered by Lokayukta. “The 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/companies,” said an officer.

During the investigation conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by ED, details of bank accounts and properties were also identified. “Their analysis revealed that Saurabh Sharma has bought a number of properties in the name of his family members/ friends/ companies in which his close associates were directors,” said the official.

“During the search proceedings conducted in Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur at eight premises, movable assets in the form of fixed deposits (FDs) of more than 6 Crore were identified in the name of Chetan Singh Gaur, associate of Saurabh Sharma and bank balances of more than Rs. 4 Crore were found in the name of family members and companies of Saurabh Sharma. Further, documents pertaining to immovable assets/ properties worth more than Rs. 23 Crore in the name of various companies and family members of Saurabh Sharma were found along with other incriminating documents,” the official added.

Another series of raid, conducted on January 17, under the provisions of the PMLA at various premises situated in Bhopal and Gwalior Districts of Madhya Pradesh and Pune (Maharashtra) in the case of Saurabh Sharma and his associate KK Arora. Arora, a former senior sub-registrar, is Vinay Haswani’s business partner, the same person from whose car 52 kg gold and 11 crore cash were recovered.

An ED official aware of the investigation said the assets were allegedly purchased by Sharma from illegal money obtained through corrupt practices while he was working as constable in the transport department.

In all, during multiple raids conducted in connection with Sharma’s ill-gotten wealth, the investigative agencies found cash of 14.29 crore, gold worth 40.50 crore, 2.20 crore silver and fixed deposits, movable and immovable properties worth 37.21 crore.

Politics over the case

Apart from the question of his appointment in the transport department, new questions were raised after Sharma’s advocate Suryakant Bhujade said the recovered cash and gold belongs to bureaucrats and politicians.

Earlier this week, Sharma wrote a letter to the state government demanding security for him and his family before surrender. Bhujade said, “I can’t reveal his location but he is ready to surrender before the agencies after getting assurance of security for him and his family.”

“Saurabh had returned India on December 23, 2024 from Dubai and he has been changing his hideouts since then but he will be caught soon,” a police officer, trying to track Sharma, said.

Bhujade said: “The cash and gold recovered during the raid doesn’t belong to him. It is not possible for any constable to amass that much wealth while posting on a check post. The cash, gold and other property belong to old bureaucrats and politicians. This corruption is very old. It is conspiracy of one big syndicate. Saurabh Sharma was made scapegoat because he was an easy target.”

“There is a threat to his life as the case has become very big and high profile but they (Saurabh Sharma and his family) are regular people,” the advocate said.

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