Crime / 2 RAS officers held in Rajasthan in graft case, Rs 80 lakh seized

JAIPUR: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) team has recovered Rs 80 lakh in a raid from the residence of two Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) officers posted as members of the revenue board in Ajmer late on Saturday.

The officers, including B L Meharda and Sunil Sharma, along with their agent Shahshikant have been arrested by the ACB under the Prevention of Corruption Act late in the night. In a parallel search, their offices in revenue board Ajmer has also been sealed by the ACB. The search operations are being carried out at the residence at Vaishali Nagar and Bapu Bazaar till the last report came in. The officials have confirmed that the matter will run into crores of rupees.

“For more than a month, we have been observing them based on the inputs that they have been favouring some people, changing decisions and handling cases/files out of the priority in exchange for huge cash. Rs 40 lakh has been recovered from Meharda’s residence which was delivered by Shashikant, while Rs 40 lakh was recovered from the agent while delivering it to another officer Sharma. Enough evidence has been collected which pointed out that money is for Sharma from his residence,” said B L Soni, DG ACB.

Sharma’s family showed resistance in the beginning which forced the ACB to call the local police. “At present, the search is going on at four places-two each in Jaipur and Ajmer, including the residence of the agent Shahshikant. The broker Shashikant came to Jaipur this evening to deliver Rs 40 lakh to each Meharda and Sharma. An official has confirmed that both have been involved in several corrupt practices in the revenue services.