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₹50 lakh cash, ₹80 lakh FDs seized from Assam bureaucrat’s residence: Cops
The recoveries were made from the residence of Lachit Kumar Das, an Assam Civil Service (ACS) officer posted as the additional director of land records. He was arrested on Thursday
The Assam Police on Friday seized nearly ₹50 lakh in cash, ₹80 lakh in fixed deposits and other items from the Guwahati residence of a state civil service officer accused of taking bribes.
The recoveries were made from the residence of Lachit Kumar Das, an Assam Civil Service (ACS) officer posted as the additional director of land records, according to a police release, which added that he was arrested on Thursday from his office in Guwahati while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹45,000 from a complainant.
Das was arrested by sleuths from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption following a complaint that he had demanded ₹1 lakh as a bribe to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) for land sale permission. Following the arrest, a case against Das was registered under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A raid was subsequently conducted at his residence, where ₹48.38 lakh in unaccounted cash was found inside a locker. Officials also found FD certificates worth ₹80 lakh in the names of Das and his family members.
Police also found several general and postal life insurance policies in the names of Das and his family members. Details of multiple bank accounts and properties in the name of the accused have also been recovered. Further investigation is on to trace other properties linked to the accused.
“Lachit Kumar Das is the nodal officer who provides NOC for inter-religious land transfer. For the purpose, he had demanded a sum of ₹1 lakh from the complainant, which he subsequently reduced to ₹50,000. It was when he was accepting ₹45,000 of that amount, we laid a trap and caught him with the bribe amount,” additional director general of police (vigilance and anti-corruption) Surendra Kumar said.
