Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Lokayukta Police have sought seven years of deleted data from Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) to intensify their probe into an alleged fake billing and property tax manipulation scam.
The investigation began with raids on March 13 at the Corporation's Fatehgarh computer section and on March 15 at the BMC workshop near Mata Mandir.
Despite seizing hard discs and computer records, investigators are yet to establish conclusive evidence.
The case was registered against the then additional commissioner Gunwant Sevatkar following a complaint by Awadhpuri resident Chandrashekhar Mishra, who alleged that lakhs of rupees had been siphoned off through fake billing. Sevatkar was transferred from Corporation after the raids.
To verify the seized records, Lokayukta Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ajay Mishra has written to the BMC commissioner seeking deleted SAP data for the financial years 2019-20 to 2025-26.
The agency has sought backup logs, master data and transaction records to reconcile financial transactions and detect any manipulation.
Deleted property tax records under scanner
The Lokayukta police suspect property tax records may have been altered by deleting old accounts and creating new ones to reduce tax liabilities.
The recovered data will help determine the number of deleted property tax accounts and whether lower tax assessments were granted through manipulation.
Rs 14 lakh tax scam, school's tax cut
Even as the Lokayukta probe continues, the BMC has detected another property tax fraud.
During Lok Adalat camps in March, two daily-wage ward employees allegedly diverted tax payments from 106 citizens into their personal bank accounts while issuing official receipts.
Following repeated complaints, Arera Hills police registered an FIR on July 5 and arrested Shiraj Ulhaq and Mohammad Sameer. The alleged embezzlement is estimated at around Rs 14 lakh.
In another case, a private school's property tax in Zone 2 was allegedly reduced from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.
Officials also found instances where main-road properties were assessed at lower lane-side rates. A citywide verification and reassessment exercise is underway.
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Requested data is linked to the investigation against Gunwant Sevatkar, while other BMC-related cases are also being examined.
Ajay Mishra, Lokayukta DSP
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A technical team from Deloitte has been engaged to retrieve the deleted data, which is expected to be recovered within a week.
Tanmay V Sharma, additional municipal commissioner
