M A I N   N E W S

CBI recovers crores in raids
Jaipur IT Joint Commissioner held
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 12
A day after countrywide raids targeting senior government officials, the CBI has recovered crores of rupees and arrested Income Tax Joint Commissioner in Jaipur Ram Avatar Verma, who was found possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, CBI sources said here today.

CBI sources said more arrests were likely as the documents and other seizures made during the simultaneous raids at 66 places across the country are being scrutinised.

“We will shortly open the sealed bank lockers to assess the property,” sources said.

Mr Varma, an Indian Revenue Service officer of the 1985 batch, was arrested after the agency claimed to have recovered Rs 22 lakh from his locker.

Mr Varma had denied that the money belonged to him and had told reporters yesterday in Jaipur that it belonged to his businessman friend who had kept the money in his locker.

They said Mr Verma was found to be possessing property worth more than Rs 1.5 crore, including a fully air conditioned and furnished large farm house on the Jaipur-Sikar road, two flats in Jaipur and one in Ahmedabad besides five luxury cars.

Claiming that Mr Varma had a lavish lifestyle, they said the officer had six dogs for whom he had air-conditioned kennels.

In Mumbai, the CBI raided 12 premises of the United India Insurance Company and some private parties.

CBI sources said private parties had claimed insurance in three separate cases from the insurance company, which was sanctioned by the insurance officials for their mutual benefits.

Giving an instance, sources said parties had purchased insurance policies and after paying premiums for a couple of years, had claimed for damage from the insurance company. These claims were settled by the insurance officials concerned on their mutual understanding, resulting in losses worth Rs 60 lakh to the insurance company.

The CBI terming this as the “insurance claim fraud” has registered three separate cases of defrauding. They have also seized policy documents from the company premises, the sources added.

Tuesday’s raids, one of the largest by the investigating agency, targeted senior Central Government and public sector officials besides two senior income tax officers, against whom allegations of graft had been made. The raids were conducted simultaneously at Vishakhapatnam, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kolkata, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow, Patna and Ranchi.

More than 60 officials whose premises were raided included Hyderabad-based Commissioner (Appeals) of Income Tax Mythily Rani and Chief of Oil Selection Board in Chandigarh Justice (retd) M.R. Agnihotri.

The largest recovery was made from the residence of Mrs Mythily Rani where the CBI seized Rs 1.5 crore in cash, fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) valued at Rs 73 lakh and jewellery worth more than Rs 20 lakh.

The details of the seizures made at the residence of Justice Agnihotri are still awaited, the sources maintained.

Mrs Mythily Rani is a 1979 batch officer of Indian Revenue Services. The CBI has also found evidence indicating the involvement of her husband, an Andhra Pradesh government official, in the huge assets and properties she amassed through corrupt means, the CBI spokesman said.

The raids were the second such drive launched by the investigating agency after the crackdown on more than 100 government and public sector officials a few months ago.