We’re all familiar with the scams and corruption that infest our country. Over the past years, many have caught the media attention including the 2g spectrum scam, the coal allocation scam, the Commonwealth Games scam and the list can go on.
Along with these big scams, there are also corrupt government officials minting money at the cost of the Indian taxpayer.
Pasuparthi Pradeep Kumar, a senior official of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) has a monthly salary of ₹ 1 lakh. However, after a raid by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, it is said that he owned assets worth ₹ 60 crore.
He has now been arrested because goods not matching his income were found during the raid. It was revealed by the Andhra police that he owned land, cash, and other valuables, including silver-made lamps and utensils.
Kumar had joined the service in May 1984 as a building inspector with a monthly salary of ₹ 1,300. And now he was found with five residential plots, four flats and agricultural land measuring 9.20 acre.
The land was all registered under the names of different members of the family. They were under the names of Kumar, his father, wife, son, brother-in-law, and paternal uncle
Officials seized an enormous amount of cash and fixed deposits worth 35 lakhs. On top of that 2.7 kg of gold, 12.5 kg of silver two platinum rings, a car and a two-wheeler plus household articles worth Rs 21 lakh were also taken into custody.
According to Hindustan Times, an Anti-Corruption Bureau official said,
“We were surprised to find that all the utensils, including drinking water glasses, lamps used in puja room and even key chains of almirahs were made of silver. He bought gold and diamond jewellery for his wife.”
It was also clarified that Kumar had a current salary of ₹ 1 lakh per month and has no ancestral properties. Yet, he managed to amass this much wealth during his tenure.
And here we thought government employees were appointed for the wellbeing of the country. No, apparently that’s too much to ask for, they are just there to make money off people like you and me.