Properties worth Rs 177 crore attached

The BJP-led state government has given permission to attach the properties of 52 government officials across the state worth Rs 177 crore in connection with disproportionate assets cases against them. According to data given by an official of the home ministry of the state, the revenue department has the highest number of corrupt officials whose properties have been attached, followed by the PWD.

According to data made available by the official and those compiled by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB), the state government, from January this year, has permitted the ACB to attach properties of 52 governmentofficials.

According to documents, out of the 52 officials, 10 belonging to the revenue department and seven from the PWD are under the scanner for amassing wealth worth more than their known sources of income. The total market value of the attached properties belonging to officials of all the departments combined amounts to Rs 177,15,88,039.

Out of the eight ranges the ACB operates in, properties having the highest market value have been attached in the Thane range, where properties worth Rs 157, 35,64,488 (Rs 157.35 crore) have been attached, followed by Mumbai range, where the value of attached properties amounts to Rs 4,68,40,898 (Rs 4.68 crore).

Properties having the least market value have been attached in the Amravati range, which amounts to Rs`15,57,700 (Rs15.57 lakh) followed by the Nashik range, which amounts to Rs1,44,92,782 (Rs1.44 crore).

“Once the ACB gets an authority letter from the government, it immediately attaches the property of the official concerned,”the official from the state home department, who requested anonymity, said.

“It then approaches the small causes court and if the court finds there is indeed a case of disproportionate assets, the case then is heard on a regular basis by the CBI,” he added, saying, “The reason why properties are attached is that until it is proved a government official has not amassed ill-gotten wealth, the official cannot sell or transfer the property to anybody else’s name.”

The official added that using the Rs177 crore worth property attached by the ACB, roughly one-fourth of Mumbai could be placed under CCTV surveillance. The project to install CCTV cameras in Mumbai has been won by engineering major Larsen and Toubro and the estimated cost of the entire project is Rs 953 crore.