Patna: ED attaches assets worth Rs 88.61 lakh of former engineer

PATNA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs88.61 lakh of Ramadhar Ram, who retired as an executive engineer in Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). The properties, disproportionate to his known sources of income, were amassed in the names of Ram and his family members across the state.

ED sources said Ram was posted as executive engineer in Siwan when Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police had conducted raids on his parental residence at Bariyarpur of Motihari in East Champaran and his government quarters in Siwan on July 19, 2013. The EOU sleuths had seized documents of movable and immovable properties of around Rs2 crore. The case was handed over to ED last year for taking necessary action.

ED sources said the attached properties include ten plots of land measuring around eight acres in different places at Motihari and in Sitamarhi. “The value of the attached plots alone is at least Rs39.55 lakh,” sources said and added that an ancestral land measuring 1.78 acre at Motihari worth at least Rs24.92 lakh in the name of Ram was also attached.

“A two-storey building constructed on approximately one kattha of land at Mothihari is worth at least Rs8.85 lakh. The land was purchased and the house built by ill-gotten money of Ram,” sources said.

“Apart from these immovable properties, four vehicles worth Rs12.02 lakh were also attached. These include two cars and two bikes, including one high-end sports model,” sources said, adding Ram and his family members had failed to explain the source of money to purchase the properties as there was no corresponding money transaction from the bank accounts.

ED also attached deposits of Rs1.84 lakh in 12 saving bank accounts of Ram and his family members, along with four insurance policies worth surrender value of Rs1.41 lakh. Sources said huge and unaccounted money in cash were deposited in their bank accounts and withdrawn through frequent smaller transactions.

Ram had not filed his income tax return (ITR) for financial year 2013-2014. However, after EOU raids, he did file the ITR in an attempt to show that the properties were legitimate.

Sources said investigation was still going on against Ram and more properties, if found, might get attached.