‘Crorepati’ ex-constable arrested in Bhopal month after officials seized cars, diamond jewellery from his home

“Saurabh Sharma, who is facing a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, has been taken into custody by our team. We will produce him before the court in 24 hours. He was taken into custody in Bhopal and will be produced before the court after his questioning finishes,” Lokayukta Director General Jaideep Prasad said.

Sharma’s lawyer Rakesh Parashar, however, said that his client was scheduled to appear before a court in Bhopal by 11 am on Tuesday and that he was arrested outside the court premises “illegally”. On Monday, Sharma had filed an application in the court to surrender in person, the lawyer said, adding: “The court instructed him to surrender on Tuesday. However, the Lokayukta police arrested him outside the court promises. This arrest is illegal and we will be raising this issue before the court.”

The Lokayukta DG said they would question him about where he had been when lookout circulars were issued in his name. “We had information about his whereabouts in Bhopal and he was arrested based on those inputs. There is no threat to his life,” Prasad said.

A case had been filed against Saurabh Sharma following the confidential verification of complaints received by the ombudsman regarding his alleged corruption.

A Lokayukta team then obtained search warrants from the local court for Sharma’s residence in Bhopal’s Arera Colony and his office-cum-residence shared with associate Chetan Singh Gaur. On December 19 and 20, two teams conducted simultaneous searches at these locations. The operation uncovered assets valued at Rs 7.98 crore.

At Sharma’s residence, officials “seized household goods and vehicles worth Rs 2.21 crore, gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh, and cash totalling Rs 1.15 crore”.

In December, the income tax (I-T) department had recovered 52 kg of gold and Rs 9.86 crore in cash from an abandoned car in a forest area near Bhopal. Following this, investigators have been probing the role of Sharma as his close associate Gaur was found to be the registered owner of the car.

Sharma joined the transport department in 2016 through a compassionate appointment following his father’s death. Initially posted in Gwalior, Sharma’s career quickly advanced. Officials said he “accomplished this by gaining control” of half a dozen checkpoints in the state by 2020.

Sharma, who took voluntary retirement from the transport department a year ago, has since transitioned into working in the real estate and hospitality sectors.