Mumbai, March 18
In growing instances of corruption singeing the country’s bureaucracy, searches by Maharashtra’s Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths on the premises of bureaucrat Nitesh Janardhan Thakur have yielded properties and cash worth Rs 200 crore so far.

This is probably the second such case - the first one being that involving Madhya Pradesh IAS officer couple Arvind and Tinu Joshi (see box) - where the law officers are grappling to come to terms with the mind-boggling amount of ill-gotten wealth unearthed from bureaucrats.

The recent crackdown on Thakur began five days ago. Investigators hope to find more booty after they question Thakur’s business aides and the CA, sources maintain.

The list of Thakur’s properties unearthed so far includes flats, bungalows, beer bars, beauty parlours, restaurants and shops apart from plots of land across Maharashtra. Ten luxury vehicles, including Land Rover, Mercedes, BMW and Honda cars, have been also seized from his possession. Raids on one of his flats yielded cash and jewellery worth around Rs 7.5 crore.

The valuables were stored in 11 safes specially created in the walls and floor of the building. “Thakur has been on unauthorised leave for the past few years. He had been under the scanner for suspicious activities during his postings in various parts of Maharashtra,” said a senior official posted at the state secretariat. According to sources, Thakur had been chargesheeted in the past for dubious dealings and was even suspended. However, he managed to return to service. He remained posted on a number of lucrative posts.

He was the Deputy Collector in Alibaug at a time when real estate prices were zooming. Thakur allegedly played a major role in tampering with land records to suit Mumbai’s businessmen who were accumulating property in the area around a decade ago. The raids on Thakur’s premises revealed that he started several companies in 2008 while still in service and managed to pump in capital worth more than Rs 300 crore in at least one such venture. “We are still trying to figure out if all the funds belonged to Thakur himself or whether others were also involved with him,” a senior police official said.