Patna: The legal troubles of Roshan Kumar, an assistant engineer posted in Bettiah, have deepened after investigators found assets far exceeding his known sources of income. The Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) has now registered a second case against him for possessing disproportionate assets, nearly 295 percent higher than his official earnings.
Roshan Kumar is currently lodged in Beur Central Jail in Patna after being caught red-handed accepting a bribe. The SVU had arrested him on March 1 during a raid in Bettiah while he was allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh along with a smartwatch. Following the arrest, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against him.
According to officials, a fresh case for disproportionate assets was filed after investigators recovered Rs 42,00,500 in cash during a search of his residence in Bettiah. Additional Director General (ADG) Pankaj Kumar Darad confirmed that a new FIR (No. 12/2026) has been registered in the matter.
SVU officials said Roshan Kumar’s government job was not permanent. He was working on a contractual basis as an assistant engineer in the District Education Project Office in Bettiah under the education department. His monthly salary was Rs 40,000.
Investigators found that since joining the job in October 2023 until his arrest, Kumar had worked for about 29 months and earned a total salary of Rs 11.60 lakh. Of this amount, he reportedly spent Rs 3,86,666, leaving savings of Rs 7,73,334.
However, during the raid conducted on April 8 at his Bettiah residence, SVU officials recovered Rs 42,00,500 in cash from a carton inside the house. Based on this discovery, the agency registered a new case for possession of disproportionate assets worth Rs 34,27,166, which is about 295 percent higher than his legitimate income.
Officials believe that the recovered cash may not belong to Kumar alone and suspect the involvement of others in the alleged corruption network. The SVU is planning to take him on police remand to question him further and trace possible links with other individuals.
Sources said the agency will soon move the Special Vigilance Court seeking three to four days of remand for detailed interrogation. Investigators hope that questioning may reveal the involvement of other officials or middlemen in the alleged corruption racket.
Roshan Kumar, 36, was born on January 5, 1990, and is a resident of Suryagarha in Lakhisarai district. His father’s name is Rajkishore Singh. He holds a B.Tech degree and had worked in several private companies before joining the government job on contract.
Between 2014 and 2016, he worked at Tata Jusco Ltd in Jamshedpur with a monthly salary of Rs 25,200. From 2016 to 2018, he worked with ILFS Ltd in Jharkhand, earning Rs 35,000 per month. He later worked at NNB Ltd in Jamshedpur from 2018 to 2020 with a salary of Rs 50,000 per month. Between 2021 and 2023, he was employed at BDPL Ltd in Kolkata with a monthly salary of Rs 60,000.
From August 2025 until March 2, 2026, he was working on a contract basis in the District Education Office in Bettiah with a monthly salary of Rs 40,000.
The bribery case came to light after a contractor, Shams Tabrez from Nautan in Motihari, filed a complaint with the SVU. Tabrez had secured a Rs 57 lakh contract under the Bihar Education Project to install borewells in government schools in Bettiah.
According to the complaint, Kumar allegedly demanded a 10 percent commission — Rs 5.70 lakh — to clear the contractor’s pending bills. Frustrated by the demand, the contractor approached the SVU in Patna on February 25 and submitted a written complaint.
After verifying the allegations on February 27, the SVU laid a trap. A team led by DSP Bindeshwar Prasad caught Roshan Kumar red-handed while accepting the bribe in Bettiah.
Officials said further investigation is underway to identify others who may be involved in the alleged corruption network.
