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Day after suspension order, Uttarakhand Vigilance arrests IAS officer in ‘disproportionate assets case’

On verifying the documents, it was clear that IAS officer Ram Vilas Yadav had amassed assets more than 500 per cent of his income, officers said

A day after Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered the suspension of IAS officer Ram Vilas Yadav, the additional secretary in Uttarakhand’s rural department was arrested by the Uttarakhand Vigilance Department Thursday in connection with allegations of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The officer, who is set to retire by June-end, was arrested at 2.15 am after long session of interrogation by the Vigilance sleuths. On verifying the documents, it was clear that he had amassed assets more than 500 per cent of his income, officers said.

The Uttarakhand police will seek the custody of the officer after producing him in court.

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Following the allegations, a case was registered against the officer in April. The Vigilance raided four locations associated with Yadav, including his premises in Dehradun and Lucknow earlier this month. He was transferred from UP to Uttarakhand in 2019. He was earlier the secretary of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA).

“In connection with the FIR registered against the additional secretary under the Prevention of Corruption Act on April 19, Yadav appeared at the Vigilance office in Dehradun to get his statement registered. When questioned about the assets acquired in the name of his family members, he did not give satisfactory answers. He could neither give satisfactory answers or provide documents for his Dilkash Vihar Ranikothi house in Lucknow, Janta Vidyalaya in Gudamba, land purchased in Noida, 10 bigha land in Ghazipur, money deposited in FD and accounts, money deposited in accounts of family members and family expenditure,” said a statement issued by the Uttarakhand police.

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On Wednesday, Yadav was suspended with immediate effect in connection with the case.

Role of wife suspected

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State Vigilance Department director Amit Sinha, meanwhile, said that in the preliminary inquiry they found that the officer amassed wealth nearly 522 times more than his known sources of income. “We then asked the administration to allow us to register a case against him. After the case was registered, we found several documents during the investigation which supported the allegations. We raided his houses,” said Sinha.

According to Sinha, on every almost question, Yadav named his wife and thus his wife also might be involved in the crime.

First uploaded on: 23-06-2022 at 18:34 IST
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