ACB crackdown on retired Public Health Dept official

PUNE, February 15: In a major swoop, the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths yesterday conducted raids at the residences of retired Deputy ...

PUNE, February 15: In a major swoop, the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths yesterday conducted raids at the residences of retired Deputy Director of the State Government’s Public Health Department, Prabhakar Nagorao Sapkal, at six places all over the state including Pune and unearthed assets disproportionate to his income totally worth about Rs 10 lakh.

The raids which started at Pune, Mumbai, Akola, Washim, Malkapur and Kolhapur since morning, were going on till late in the evening. Five Deputy Superintendents of Police, 10 Inspectors and over 50 constables were involved in the swoop.

The action was taken after the ACB filed a case with the Swargate police accusing Sapkal, his wife Indrayani and engineer son Pankaj of accumulating assets disproportionate to their income, conspiracy and abetting to the graft as per the provisions made under Sections 13 (1) (E) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988 and Sections 120 (B) and 109 of the Indian Penal Code, said Additional Superintendent ofPolice (ACB) V A Ingavale.

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Acting on a tip off, the ACB had initiated an inquiry against Sapkal in 1994. The action was taken after the inquiry confirmed that Sapkal, who retired in 1995, had accumulated assets totally worth Rs 27 lakh during his service tenure.

The probe into the total worth of the assets and Sapkal’s income during his service tenure, revealed that he had accumulated assets disproportionate to his income worth Rs 10 lakh, Ingavale added.

The inquiry revealed that Sapkal had constructed a marriage hall estimated to be worth Rs 10 lakh at Malkapur. Sapkal had allegedly invested Rs 6 lakh in purchasing shares of various companies besides depositing an amount of Rs 6 lakh with various banks.

Besides purchasing a Rs 2 lakh flat in Pune, Sapkal also owned a plot of land at Umri village in Akola district. He had also invested some money in his son’s business in Mumbai.

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Acting on the directives by the Superintendent of Police S M Mushrif, the ACB sleuths filed the case against Sapkal withthe Swargate police around 7.30 am and the raids were started immediately after that.

Seven teams of the ACB sleuths led by Deputy Superintendents of Police R R Awade, M H Naik, V A Ingavale, P H Deshmukh and P A Mahure carried out searches at the residences of Sapkal, his son and their relatives at Salisbury Park, Savra Manchanpur village in Akola taluka, Mumbai, Washim in Akola district and Kolhapur as well as Sapkal’s marriage hall at Malkapur in Akola district.