MP Clerk Drinks Floor Cleaner As EOW Raids House. Rs 85 Lakh Cash, Assets Worth Crores Uncovered

Madhya Pradesh's Economic Offences Wing raided the three-storey house of Hero Keswani. The accused after his failed attempts to stop officials, drank floor cleaner.

New Delhi: A clerk in the Bhopal government drank floor cleaner after the state’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday raided his home in Bhopal’s Bairagarh following a complaint over disproportionate assets. While the clerk was hospitalised as his health deteriorated, around Rs 85 lakhs have been recovered along with immovable property worth crores.

According to news agency PTI, the EOW on Wednesday morning raided the three-storey house of accused Hero Keswani, 54, an Upper Division Clerk (UDC) of the Medical Education Department in Bhopal. As the team initiated a search operation, Keswani tried to stop them. After his failed attempts, he drank floor cleaner. An FIR has been filed against him for attempting suicide.

The Superintendent of Police (SP), EOW, Bhopal, Rajesh Singh informed the media that the accused was rushed to the state-run Hamidia Hospital where he is receiving treatment for blood pressure-related problems. His condition is said to be stable now.

"He was rushed to the state-run Hamidia Hospital. His condition is stable and he is undergoing treatment for blood pressure-related problems," the SP said.

Later, the team resumed its search operation in presence of Keswani’s wife and two children. The EOW has so far recovered Rs 85 lakh in cash from his house while 14 papers and sale deeds of properties have been found. Gold and silver have also been recovered. A video tweeted by ANI showed a huge pile of cash placed on a table and a note counting machine, with the EOW officials sitting and estimating the worth of the recovered assets. 

Keswani had started his job at a salary of Rs 4,000 and was now getting around Rs 50,000. Singh said that Keswani is estimated to own assets worth Rs 4 crore. Most of the assets are in the name of his wife, a homemaker with no stable source of income. Nevertheless, Keswani owned three luxury cars and many expensive decorative items have been found at his house. 

The SP informed that EOW was receiving complaints against Keswani who happens to be close to the secretary of Jeev Sewa Sansthan, a charitable trust. The trust is under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly selling off lands received in donations for constructing educational institutions.

On Wednesday, the EOW also raided the home of an assistant engineer of Jabalpur municipal corporation identified as Adity Shukla. The team has so far found a plot of 3900 square feet and a mansion, two SUVs and a bank balance of Rs 6.40 lakh along with other immovable assets.