EOW raids Deputy Commissioner's properties in MP; liquor bottles, assets worth crores recovered

Jabalpur, July 23 (IANS) The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Madhya Pradesh raided the residences of Jagdish Sarvate, Deputy Commissioner in the Tribal Welfare Department, and claimed to have unearthed assets worth over Rs 6 crore.

Multiple EOW teams carried out simultaneous raids at Sarvate's properties in Jabalpur, Bhopal, and Sagar districts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The searches, which lasted over 10 hours, led to the recovery of at least 17 properties spread across the state.

Preliminary assessments revealed that Sarvate had spent more than Rs 20.49 lakh on interior decoration and furnishings for luxury bungalows in Jabalpur and flats in Bhopal and Sagar.

Among the findings, the EOW recovered over 57 bottles of foreign liquor and wine -- worth around Rs 1.8 lakh -- from his Adhartal residence in Jabalpur.

Another of his houses in Jabalpur's Shankar Shah area was also searched. Sarvate reportedly owns a 3 BHK flat in Bhopal’s Bag Mugalia locality and another flat in Sagar. He is currently holding additional charge of the Tribal Welfare Department office in Sagar district.

Officials also seized several documents, including property papers and official records, from his government residence in Jabalpur.

According to the EOW, 17 immovable properties worth over Rs 4 crore were registered in the names of Sarvate’s family members, including his mother.

EOW officials said that during the raid, all documents related to Sarvate's properties, bank transactions, insurance investments, and property registration records have been seized.

The team is looking into whether the property and cash seized match his declared income sources of income or not. Forensic investigation of all bank accounts, investments, and original source of properties will also be done.

A senior EOW official said the raids were conducted based on specific inputs regarding the alleged siphoning of public funds and possession of disproportionate assets. Following an internal inquiry, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against Sarvate.

He is suspected of misappropriating a significant amount of money allocated for tribal welfare schemes.

--IANS

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