Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 13: On the fourth day of the Budget Session, Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh staged another protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue within the State Assembly premises. They demanded a thorough investigation into a corruption case involving a former constable from the State Transport Department.
The protesting Congress members, including Leader of Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar, wore black T-shirts emblazoned with a skeleton sketch and carried symbolic gold-colored bricks to highlight the alleged corruption case. The protestors raised slogans calling for a fair probe into the matter.
LoP Singhar addressed ANI, saying, “The symbolic attire represents that the state is like a skeleton, deeply mired in debt. The bricks symbolize the gold recovered from the officials and employees involved in the corruption case of the former transport constable.” He pointed out that key figures such as Minister Govind Singh Rajput, former Minister and BJP MLA Bhupendra Singh, and Sanjay Shrivastva were involved in the case. Singhar questioned the state government’s reluctance to investigate the matter, stating, “The government has proof but refuses to take action. Is Chief Minister Mohan Yadav afraid of these people? Why does the government seem to protect them?”
Singhar further criticized the state government’s stance on corruption, saying, “If the government is supporting corruption, it is deeply troubling for the people of Madhya Pradesh.” He added, “The gold bricks found in Bhopal – whose are they? Are they linked to Minister Govind Rajput, Sanjay Srivastava, or others?”
Congress MLA Vivek Vicky Patel also joined the protest, saying, “The state is drowning in debt while the ministers are becoming wealthier. We demand a full investigation into the transport department scam. We want to know where the gold came from.”
The Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police had registered a case against Saurabh Sharma, a former constable in the State Transport Department, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. After conducting searches at various locations, they uncovered assets deemed disproportionate to Sharma’s known income. Sharma, along with his associates Chetan Singh Gaur and Sharad Jaiswal, was arrested and presented in court, where they were sent to jail.
Earlier, on December 19 and 20 of the previous year, the Lokayukta recovered assets worth several crores from two residences linked to the accused in Bhopal’s Arera Colony.
In a separate development, police in Bhopal, along with Income Tax (IT) officials, recovered 52 kg of gold worth over Rs 40 crore and Rs 9.86 crore in cash from an abandoned car. The car, registered under Chetan Singh Gaur’s name, was discovered late at night on December 19 near Mendori-Kushalpur Road, falling under the Ratibad police station limits. Authorities seized the car and its contents after receiving a tip-off.