MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked its former officer BM Meena in a second corruption case, this time for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets (DA) worth ₹98.63 lakh in his and his wife’s names during his three-year posting as a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in Mumbai up to December 2024.
Meena’s wife, Sunita, was also booked for allegedly abetting her husband’s illegal activities, officials said. The CBI registered a case against the couple on April 30 under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act related to illicit enrichment, criminal misconduct by a public servant, and abetment.
Meena was attached to the CBI’s Banking Securities Fraud Branch in Mumbai from September 2021 to December 2024. On December 30, 2024, he and seven others were booked for allegedly demanding and accepting an undue advantage in return for favours from certain individuals.
The latest case was registered based on a complaint filed by a CBI inspector who was the assistant investigating officer in the 2024 case and had scrutinised the related disproportionate assets angle against the accused officer.
The inspector submitted his complaint on April 28, alleging that Meena had illegally enriched himself and acquired assets worth ₹98.63 lakh in his and his wife’s names. The amount was nearly 88% more than the couple’s known sources of income during his three-year posting in Mumbai, a CBI official said, requesting anonymity.
“Huge deposits” were also found in Meena’s wife’s bank accounts, suggesting she had active knowledge of her husband’s allegedly illegal activities and participated in them, the official added.
In the December 2024 case, the CBI had conducted searches at 20-odd premises in Mumbai, Jaipur, Kolkata, and New Delhi, including the official and residential premises of the accused persons and entities. Officials said the searches led to the recovery of cash worth ₹55 lakh that had allegedly been routed through hawala channels, property papers showing investments of around ₹1.78 crore, and book entries showing transactions worth ₹1.63 crore.
It was further alleged in the December 2024 case that the accused CBI officer had availed the services of private persons acting as middlemen to conduct bribe transactions through a web of bank accounts and hawala channels.
