Yadav Singh owns diamonds worth Rs 100 crore and 20 properties to his name
With diamonds worth Rs. 100 crore, two kilos of gold, crores in cash and 20 properties to his name, Yadav Singh is one of the richest men in Uttar Pradesh. Turns out being a government employee can be very profitable.
Till last week, when raids at his sprawling mansion in Noida blew the lid off his enormous assets, Mr Singh was Chief Engineer for mega government agencies in charge of managing multi-lane freeways and expanding and developing the area around them in this part of Uttar Pradesh, just across the border from Delhi.
Mr Singh appears to have learnt only on how to acquire and execute the clout of powerful backers.
In 1995, he was well-connected enough to land a major promotion to Project Manager, though he lacked a basic qualification - an engineering degree. An exception was made by officials in charge - an order allowed him three years to complete the degree. Officials have since refused to comment on whether that ever happened. The issue was highlighted by another engineer who filed a formal complaint pointing out that Mr Singh had been unfairly promoted over him.
In 2012, Mr Singh was removed as Chief Engineer for allegedly involved in scamming the government of nearly 900 crores - a swindle allegedly executed while Mayawati was Chief Minister, but he was reinstated by the administration of Akhilesh Yadav in 2013.
All contracts that he oversaw have been cancelled as of last week when the raids on him were commissioned by the tax department. He has now been transferred to a far more modest administrative post.
On Friday, a team of 120 officers of the Income Tax department raided over 20 places allegedly owned by Mr Singh. Perhaps their most important find is a diary with coded entries, believed to be a record of illegal dealings involving other bureaucrats, industrialists and politicians.