Police also unearthed 14 bank accounts run by additional director in Rajasthan's mines departmentPankaj Gehlot.
Uncountable piles of currency notes in the highest of denominations lay stacked on the desk of a senior government official in Rajasthan's Udaipur this evening, after a raid by the state's anti-corruption department.
An additional director in Rajasthan's mines department, Pankaj Gehlot, was caught red handed today by the anti-graft police along with four others accepting a bribe. The total bounty? Rs 3.8 crores.
The raids haven't ended and the police said they are still checking out homes and offices of senior government officials. Additional Chief Secretary in the Mines Department Ashok Singhvi is among those being raided and might be arrested soon, a senior police officer said.
According to the additional director general of the anti-corruption department Navdeep Singh, Mr Gehlot and government engineer Pushkar Raj Ameta had been paid the bribe by the owners of six china clay mines in Chittorgarh.
The government officers had allegedly demanded Rs 2.5 crores in return of reopening the six mines that they had ordered to be closed. The owner of the mines has been identified as a man named Sher Khan, the police said.
Police launched the raids today after receiving a tip off. They caught a middleman red handed with more than Rs 4 lakhs in cash as he came to deliver the money at the home of the mining engineer in Bhilwara, 150 kilometers from Udaipur.
Police also unearthed 14 bank accounts run by Pankaj Gehlot.
"It is one of the biggest seizures in Rajasthan," Mr Singh said. "We have arrested five people - two government servants and three middlemen including a chartered account. Our searches are continuing and we may come up with more disclosures soon."