Disproportionate assets case: EOU sleuths raid premises of ex-Bhojpur SP

PATNA: Sleuths of the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) carried out simultaneous searches on four locations of suspended IPS officer Rakesh Kumar Dubey in Patna and Jasidih in Jharkhand on Thursday.
Dubey has been accused of amassing unaccounted wealth worth Rs 2.56 crore, which is 85% more than his known sources of income.
Dubey is the first IPS officer against whom disproportionate assets (DA) case was lodged and searches were conducted for his alleged links with illegal sand mining mafia.
He was removed from the post of SP of Bhojpur in July this year and subsequently put under suspension after preliminary investigation hinted at his links with sand mafia.
Additional director general (ADG), EOU, Nayyar Hasnain Khan, said a DA case was lodged against the former Bhojpur SP on Wednesday and searches were conducted on Thursday after obtaining warrant from the competent court.
During investigation, it came to light that Dubey has invested huge money through a building construction firm, Khyati Builders, whose proprietor, Rakesh Kumar, is a close relative of a controversial builder, Anil Singh.
Singh, proprietor of Patliputra Builders, was recently arrested for duping people crores of rupees on the pretext of providing them flats. The Enforcement Directorate has initiated action against Singh.
In addition, evidence of money laundering has been collected, which suggested that the police officer in question used to give money on interest to the people through certain agents. The identity of such people was being ascertained.
The operation started around 10am and concluded in the evening. Initially, a police team led by a DSP rank officer searched Dubey’s residence near Gandhi Park at S K Puri here. Another team conducted searches at a flat at Sudama Palace near Abhiyanta Nagar in the state capital.
Two separate teams conducted searches at his hotel at Jasidih and ancestral house at Simaria near Jasidih in Jharkhand. However, relatives of Dubey told the raiding team that the police officer had no property in his name at his native village.
The raiding team came to know that the flat at Sudama Palace near Rupaspur in Patna had been sold recently. The flat was reportedly purchased in the name of Dubey's sister. The abrupt action prompted the search team to contact the builder, Rakesh Kumar, whose construction firm, Khyati Builders, had allotted the flat.
As the builder Rakesh Kumar came to know about the operation, he fled after shutting his office. However, he later returned to his office after being informed about deployment of a magistrate to break open the lock of the office.
Anticipating searches, the suspended IPS officer had safely shifted gold jewellery from his house.
The EOU was trying to find out whether Dubey owned plots of land on northern side of JP Setu near Sonepur in Saran district.