CHENNAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Chennai, booked an ONGC chief engineer and his wife on charges of accumulating illegal assets to the tune of Rs 1.11 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The CBI has booked K Ravichandran of Tiruvarur, posted in Karaikal as chief engineer of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, and his wife Vimala, a block education officer in Tiruvarur, under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Based on information that Ravichandran owned pecuniary resources and properties in his name and the name of his family members, CBI conducted a preliminary inquiry on the assets for the check period from the year 2014 to 2020. These assets grew in value from Rs 1.09 crore to Rs 1.96 crore. Though their official income during the period was Rs 1.43 crore, the expenditure during the same period was Rs 1.68 crore, amounting to disproportionate assets to the tune of 78.17 per cent. As the information prima facie confirmed the offence, CBI registered a case.