Bhopal: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday moved an application before a Bhopal district court, hearing the disproportionate assets case against ex-RTO Saurabh Sharma and his two associates, seeking permission to interrogate them.
In its application, the ED sought the court’s permission to interrogate Saurabh Sharma and his two associates – Chetan Gaur and Sharad Jaiswal, who were sent to judicial custody on Tuesday.
The ED has not mentioned any specific date for questioning of the trio, however, it requested the court to grant permission for interrogation in jail whenever needed.
The district court designated for Lokayukta cases has kept the ED’s application for hearing. The agency has put forward the application when the MP Lokayukta Police produced trio in the court after their seven-day police custody expired on Tuesday.
The court has sent the trio to judicial custody till February 17.
Notably, over the past two and a half months, multiple agencies, including the Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta, Income Tax Department, and Enforcement Directorate, have conducted raids across various locations in Bhopal, Gwalior, and Jabalpur.
The ED has initiated action following a complaint by MP Lokayukta police against Sharma.
According to MP Police, a case had been filed against Sharma following the confidential verification of complaints received by the ombudsman regarding his alleged corruption.
Subsequently, multiple raids were conducted in different locations. ED had questioned Sharma’s wife and mother a day before he was arrested by MP Lokayukta police from Bhopal on January 28.
However, the case got more limelight after the Income Tax Department recovered around 52 kg gold and a cash amount of Rs 11 lakh from an abandoned car in a forest area in Bhopal on December 19.
Meanwhile, Lokayukta Police have listed more than 30 people, including Sharma’s mother, wife and other close relatives.
Sharma joined the Transport Department in 2016 as a constable on compassionate grounds following his father’s death in 2015. After 12 years of service, he took voluntary retirement in 2023, even as an inquiry against him was pending at the time.
(IANS)
