By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: The Assam Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (V&AC) carried out another search operation at a property linked to arrested ACS officer Lachit Kumar Das on Friday, May 22, during which Rs 1.18 crore in cash and several land documents were recovered.
The raid took place at a house in Queen’s Garden, Ranibagan area of Beltola in Guwahati, a day after his arrest in a bribery case. Officials said the seized money and papers are now being examined as part of the ongoing verification process.
Earlier, Das, serving as Additional Director of Land Records in the Assam Civil Service, had been caught in a trap operation while allegedly accepting Rs 45,000, part of a demanded bribe linked to issuing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for land sale approval.
As per the vigilance agency, the case began after a complainant alleged that Rs 1 lakh was being sought for processing the NOC.
Acting on the complaint, officials laid a trap at the Directorate of Land Records office in Rupnagar, Guwahati, where Das was allegedly caught immediately after taking the bribe inside his chamber.
After his arrest on May 21, vigilance teams conducted a late-night search at his residence in Beltola’s Rani Bagan area, which continued until around 1:30 am on May 22.
During the operation, officials found Rs 48.38 lakh in cash stored inside a locker in the house.
They also recovered fixed deposit certificates valued at nearly Rs 80 lakh, along with insurance documents, bank account records, and papers linked to immovable properties owned by Das and his family members.
The Anti-Corruption Branch Police Station has invoked Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), and registered a case in the matter.