Bihar cops nip junior engineer's black wealth spree
Firaz-ul-Haque, who is at present posted in East Champaran district as a junior engineer of the state government's rural works department, bought as many as 55 plots of land over his 25-year career.
Unscrupulous Bihar government employees have individual preferences for investing their ill-gotten money. Their choices vary from silver pressure cookers and gold ornaments to movie theatres and medical colleges. But even so, the good, old plots of land still appear to be a perennial favourite.
An 'enterprising' junior engineer of the state government's rural works department bought as many as 55 plots of land over his 25-year career before the state police put a halt to his land-buying spree. Firaz-ul-Haque, who is at present posted in East Champaran district, owned plots located in different parts of Patna, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran and West Champaran districts.
This came to light when the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police raided his two houses in Bettiah on Monday. Additional director general of police (headquarters) Gupteshwar Pandey said that the EOU had seized papers for properties worth crores of rupees. "The actual worth of his assets is yet to be estimated," he said.
EOU officials said the total value of the 55 plots, as per the land deed, had been shown to be around only Rs 50 lakh, an estimate grossly undervalued.
The seizure is said to be the biggest by the EOU in the state as far as investment in land is concerned.
Interestingly, the team was initially in for a disappointment when they found only Rs 3,000 in cash from the junior engineer's houses at Bari Tola and Mahesha in Bettiah. But it was not long before they stumbled upon the papers related to the plots.
EOU officials said the engineer had bought the plots in his and his wife Badrunissa's name. Badrunissa is at present the chief of Purainiya panchayat in East Champaran. A separate case against her would be lodged after scrutinising the papers, they added.
Apart from the plots, the official was also found to have kept Rs 8 lakh in his bank accounts, invested Rs 2.47 lakh in insurance policies and Rs 6 lakh in gold jewellery. He had also purchased a Mahindra Scorpio vehicle, one tractor and two motorcycles. Besides, he had bought a rifle worth Rs 80,000. His houses are worth Rs 36 lakh. His lockers have since been sealed.