MP: Political, bureaucratic links to haul of gold biscuits, cash?

Saurabh Sharma is said to be on a family outing to Dubai. Police are eagerly waiting for his return to India to unravel the discovery of unaccounted assets, gold biscuits and cash. The accumulation of such huge and unaccounted wealth by a former ‘constable’ of the transport department in Madhya Pradesh is unexplained at the moment.

Lokayukta’s special police establishment recovered Rs 10 crore in cash and 50 kg of gold biscuits from a vehicle parked in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Bhopal on 21 December. The vehicle was found to be registered in the name of Chetan Singh Gaur, a friend and accomplice of Sharma's. It was possibly abandoned in the farmhouse because the Lokayukta police had raided the premises of Sharma and Gaur on two previous days and unearthed assets worth Rs 7.9 crore. The total assets, police now claim, are worth over Rs 100 crore.

Sharma had taken VRS in June 2023, and it appears extraordinary for a former ‘constable’ to have amassed such wealth in such a short time. While Sharma is said to now own bungalows, fancy cars, jewellery and cash, Gaur is said to be absconding.

The gold biscuits have added to the intrigue as they are suspected to have been smuggled into the country. The ED has registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Sharma and Gaur. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has also launched a parallel inquiry.

The rags-to-riches story of Sharma has raised suspicion of involvement of political leaders and bureaucrats, prompting the Congress to demand answers, with deputy leader of Opposition Hemant Katare even accusing former Madhya Pradesh chief secretary Iqbal Singh Bains of being involved.

At a press conference, Katare produced documents to allege that Bains and his relatives had business dealings with Sharma. “How could a constable, with just six years of service, amass such a fortune? This raises serious questions about corruption at the highest level,” Katare said.

Bains and other top bureaucrats, he alleged, might have used Sharma as a pawn to launder illicit wealth. “Is Sharma just a front for more prominent figures, including Iqbal Singh Bains? The public deserves to know who the real masterminds behind this corruption are,” he said. Sharma may be small fry, but what about the big sharks pulling the strings, Katare wondered aloud.

He also questioned why police had not examined the CCTV footage yet to monitor the movement of the vehicle that carried the 54 kg of gold. He called for a deeper probe into the activities of the current transport minister and his staff, suggesting that transport barriers are still being operated by individuals with questionable connections.

As the investigation unfolds, the political fallout from this scandal continues to mount. With multiple agencies probing the matter, the true extent of Sharma’s wealth and his alleged connections to the state’s political and bureaucratic elite could have far-reaching implications for Madhya Pradesh’s government.