Amid probe into the TRP Game Zone fire that killed children among 27, the Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has filed a case against the suspended town planner of Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) who is already under arrest. MD Sagathiya, the accused, has now been booked for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets (DA) worth 10.55 crore, the ACB said on Wednesday. This is the third criminal case against Sagathiya registered in the aftermath of the deadly fire on May 25. Between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2024, the ACB said in an official statement, the total income of Sagathiya from his known sources of income was Rs 2.57 crore. However, the value of the assets owned by him and his family members is worth Rs 13.23 crore. “Thus, it has come to light that the accused has acquired disproportionate assets worth Rs 10.23 crore when compared to his legal income. The disproportionate assets are 410.37 per cent higher than his income,” the ACB release said. The case against Sagathiya comes around three weeks after the ACB conducted searches at the office and residence of Sagathiya and Bhikha Theba, the deputy chief fire officer of Rajkot, on May 30. The disproportionate assets case against Sagathiya comes 10 days after Theba was arrested by the ACB for allegedly acquiring assets worth Rs 79.94 lakh, 67.27 per cent higher than the known sources of his income. “It has emerged that prima facie, the accused misused his official position during his years in public service, used various corrupt methods with an intent to become rich by using illegal means, amassed money through corruption and invested that money in assets registered in his and his family member’s names,” the ACB said in the release on Wednesday. This is the third criminal case to be filed against Sagathiya in the aftermath of the fire at the TRP Game Zone which, the police investigation has revealed, was functioning since 2021 allegedly without obtaining due clearances from fire and emergency department as well as town planning department of the civic body. The Rajkot Crime Branch arrested Sagathiya and three other officers of the civic body on May 30 in a case registered for culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, stating they didn’t take any action against the gaming zone despite knowing at least for a year that it didn’t due clearances from the RMC and thus committed “illegal acts of omission.” The Rajkot Crime Branch registered a separate offence against Sagathiya on June 8 for allegedly forging a minutes book of his office on May 27 with an intent to create records in his defence post the May 25 fire at TRP Game Zone. A local court remanded Sagathiya to the custody of the Rajkot Crime Branch for six days on Tuesday in the forgery case. Meanwhile, the ACB listed 14 assets owned by Sagathiya and his family in Rajkot city, in rural areas of Rajkot district, and in Ahmedabad city. These include two petrol pumps, three industrial godowns, an under-construction hotel, a farmhouse, two tracts of of agricultural, a gas godown, a plot of land, an under-construction bungalow and a tenement in Rajkot city and district as well as two flats in Adani Shantigram township. Sagathiya was suspended by the RMC on June 1 for alleged dereliction of duty and after he spent 48 hours in police custody.
