Patna: The Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) is set to take major action against corruption in Bihar, having sent proposals to the competent authority for confiscation of illegal assets worth around Rs 4.14 crore belonging to eight officials and public representatives. Once approval is granted, formal proceedings will begin to take over these properties on behalf of the government.
VIB Director General Jitendra Singh Gangwar said on Monday that the process of confiscating assets acquired through corruption is being expedited. He said proposals related to eight cases have been forwarded in 2025, and action will be initiated immediately after approval is received.
According to the bureau, proposals for property seizure have been sent against eight individuals, including two former mukhiyas, a judicial magistrate, a superintending engineer, a forest range officer, a sub-divisional officer (SDO), a tax daroga and a Child Development Project Officer (CDPO). All of them were booked in serious corruption cases registered between 2012 and 2019.
A corruption case was registered in 2012 against former forest range officer of Lakhisarai, Dilip Kumar, against whom confiscation of assets worth Rs 88.25 lakh has been proposed. Former SDO of Hathua in Gopalganj, Vijay Pratap Singh, faced three corruption cases in 2015, and seizure of assets worth Rs 62.35 lakh has been recommended.
The proposal also includes confiscation of assets worth Rs 12.76 lakh belonging to former Patna Rural SDPO Phoolpari Devi, Rs 34.62 lakh of former Motihari Municipal Council tax daroga Ajay Kumar Gupta, and Rs 3.71 lakh of former mukhiya of Jitwariya Gram Panchayat in Samastipur, Pramod Kumar Rai.
Confiscation of assets worth Rs 90.75 lakh has been proposed against Omprakash Manjhi, former superintending engineer of the Rural Works Department, who has already been dismissed from service. The bureau has also recommended seizure of assets worth Rs 1.70 crore belonging to former mukhiya of Raj Marahiya Pakdi Panchayat in Lauria block of West Champaran, Manager Yadav.
In another case, a corruption case was registered in 2019 against former judicial magistrate of Darbhanga, Rakesh Kumar Rai, and confiscation of assets worth Rs 41.12 lakh has been proposed.
Officials said the move reflects an intensified push against corruption and illegal accumulation of wealth in the state, and further action will follow once approval is granted by the competent authority.
