Patna, Aug 22 : The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police on Friday carried out a major raid at the Patna residence of Vinod Kumar Rai, Superintendent Engineer in the Rural Works Department, unearthing huge illegal wealth.

According to officials, the raid, which began in the early morning, led to the seizure of Rs 40 lakh in cash, burnt notes worth nearly Rs 20 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh, luxury watches worth Rs 6 lakh, and land documents worth crores of rupees, apart from details of more than 12 bank accounts.

During the operation, Vinod Rai's wife allegedly attempted to destroy evidence by burning bundles of cash, worth lakhs, to stop the EOU from seizing them.

The act caused clogging of the drains in the house, forcing the Municipal Corporation team to assist in recovering charred notes.

The Forensic Science Lab (FSL) team has also been called to examine the burnt currency to assess how much money was destroyed.

The EOU team had been waiting outside Rai's residence throughout the night as his wife reportedly prevented officials from entering.

Around 5:20 a.m., the team forcibly entered and was stunned by the scene'cash and valuables were scattered inside the house.

Officials described this as part of the EOU's wider crackdown on corruption in Bihar's government departments.

Rai, who is currently posted in Madhubani and has an additional charge of Sitamarhi district as well, is currently being questioned, and further investigation is underway to trace the source of assets disproportionate to his income.

The incident once again highlights how officials facing graft charges can go to extreme lengths to conceal their black money.

This was the big seizure of cash and jewellery from the house of a government officer of the Rural Work Department in recent times.

After the seizures, the Economic Offence Unit (EOU) has registered an FIR at its police station in Patna.

/IANS