82-Year-Old Ex-Official Charged In Disproportionate Assets Case After 29-Year Investigation

After a nearly three-decade investigation, Chhattisgarh's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has finally filed a chargesheet against 82-year-old DD Bhutada, a retired Joint Director of Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, in a disproportionate assets case initiated in 1995.

The chargesheet was submitted to the special Prevention of Corruption Act court in Bilaspur district on Monday. The case originated when EOW officials in Bhopal, then part of undivided Madhya Pradesh, registered the complaint against Bhutada. The investigation was later transferred to the EOW in Raipur after Chhattisgarh was established as a separate state in November 2000.

According to officials, the investigation began with raids conducted on September 13, 1995, at Bhutada's residence in Bilaspur and other properties connected to him. During these searches, authorities discovered that Bhutada owned a rice mill and multiple land parcels in Bilaspur. The EOW also seized gold, silver, approximately Rs 5 lakh in cash, and various other items from his premises.

The investigation concluded that Bhutada had allegedly accumulated assets valued at three times his legitimate income sources. This significant discrepancy between his official earnings and actual wealth formed the basis of the disproportionate assets case that has now culminated in a chargesheet, 29 years after the initial raids.