IRS officer in charge of opium factories held with Rs 16.3 lakh

The officer also holds additional charge of Government Opium & Alkaloid Works in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh.

“Yadav was nabbed during a surprise check of his car by the Kota ACB team on Saturday. It was found during checking that he was travelling with Rs 15 lakh cash packed in boxes of sweets. Another Rs 1.3 lakh was found in his purse,” ACB DG B L Soni said.

Yadav was travelling in a car that had ‘Police’ written on it, Soni added.

According to Soni, the ACB had received information through sources that officers and staff of the narcotics department of the Government of India posted in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh were taking bribes and commissions from opium farmers through middlemen in exchange for helping the farmers get bigger plots from the government for opium farming.

“In our investigation we found that the accused was involved in taking bribes in exchange for giving opium farmers permission to cultivate larger areas. We have arrested him after disproportionate assets were found in his possession during the surprise check,” Soni told The Indian Express.

A case has been registered against Yadav under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Soni said.

The DG said the ACB had received information that bribes and commissions to the tune of Rs 80,000 was being taken from each farmer.

“Yadav could not give any satisfactory answer about the large amount of cash recovered from him during our search operation. We are questioning him to know more about the alleged bribery racket, regarding which we have inputs,” Thakur Chandrasheel Kumar, Additional SP, ACB Kota, said.