Maid’s wealth zooms to Rs 75L in 3 yrs, CBI books TN official

The CBI has recently found that Ashok Kumar Yadav, former joint chief controller of explosives, Petroleum Explosives and Safety Organisation (PESO), Chennai, had invested a good portion of his ill-gotten wealth in his housemaid Saritha’s name while he was working here.

The assets allegedly held by Saritha, include two plots of land worth Rs 29.50 lakh, a house worth Rs 36 lakh, 547 grams of gold jewellery worth Rs 10.94 lakh, a scooter worth Rs 65,135 and promissory notes worth Rs 6.70 lakh signed by various persons, besides bank deposits. Yadav retired from service on July 31, 2018.

CBI officials on Wednesday said Saritha and AK Yadav have been booked for allegedly amassing illicit wealth to the tune of Rs 98.89 lakh, nearly 311.3 per cent above the officer’s legal income. The agency has also found suspicious the role of TVK Kumaresan, Yadav’s agent and have named him in FIR. Yadav, who had already purchased land and flat in his wife Pushpa’s name in Jaipur, also purchased 2,616 sq ft land in Cuddalore in the name of Saritha and constructed a 1,800 sq ft building there. He had also given Rs 6 lakh as advance to buy another piece of land measuring 5,467 sq ft in Cuddalore in Saritha’s name. Apart from number of deposit slips in various banks in the name of Saritha, the CBI officials also seized Rs.3.5 lakh from her house in Cuddalore. Further probe is on. The agency had received information that Yadav “enriched” himself “illicitly” during his tenure as joint chief controller of explosives in Chennai from August 12, 2015 to April 7, 2018 when he retired from service, the CBI FIR alleged.

It was alleged that during the check period 2015-18 he accrued disproportionate assets worth Rs 1.37 crore in his as well as his maid Saritha’s name, whereas his legal income during the period was Rs 31.76 lakh only, they said.