The Anti-Corruption Bureau has conducted searches at nine locations in Pune, Navi Mumbai and Satara district in connection with a disproportionate-assets case involving deputy director of agriculture Kiran Shamrao Jadhav and his wife, Sangeeta Jadhav, according to a report by Punekar News.
Separate ACB teams began searching the linked properties on Monday morning after registering a case against the couple at Bund Garden police station in Pune. ACB superintendent of police Shirish Sardeshpande was quoted as saying that the searches were launched after the case was registered and that teams were examining properties and related documents.
The agency has reportedly identified agricultural land at 15 locations allegedly owned by Jadhav and his relatives. The properties under examination also include five flats in Pune, one flat in Navi Mumbai and three properties in Dahivadi in Satara district. The investigation includes documents relating to assets held by Jadhav’s wife.
The report attributed the case to an ACB assessment of the couple’s income, expenditure and assets during the relevant check period. It stated that their total income was assessed at Rs 3.40 crore, expenditure at Rs 3.55 crore and identified assets at Rs 4.22 crore. The ACB has alleged that the couple possessed disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.37 crore compared with their known sources of income.
Those figures require clarification because the supplied report does not explain how the stated income, expenditure and asset values produce the alleged disproportionate-assets figure. The central allegation should therefore be treated as an agency claim pending access to the case documents, assessment details or an official clarification from the ACB. Searches and registration of a case do not establish criminal liability, and the couple’s response was not included in the report.
Jadhav, who is originally from Dahivadi village in Maan taluka of Satara district, joined government service as an agriculture officer on June 4, 1994. He completed a BSc at the College of Agriculture in Pune and an MSc at Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth in Dapoli, according to the report.
He subsequently held positions in the agriculture department in locations including Thane and Pune and served as deputy director of agriculture and superintendent agriculture officer in Pune. He is currently posted as deputy director at the ATMA project office in Solapur. Jadhav and Sangeeta Jadhav were married on May 28, 1996.
The ACB searches were continuing at the time of the report. Further details will depend on the documents examined by the agency, the outcome of the search process and any clarification of the financial calculations underlying the case.
