Bhopal, Oct 2 : The State Bureau of Investigation for Economic Offences (SBIEO) has unearthed property worth over Rs. 10 crore following raids at 11 premises of five retired and serving engineers associated with the Bansagar Power Project -- the largest venture of its kind in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa and Satna districts -- officials said here Friday.

SBIEO teams, comprising about 100 officials under four police superintendents, conducted simultaneous raids since Thursday seizing incriminating documents of transactions worth several crores of rupees, an official said on the condition of anonymity.

The operation, he said, was carried out on basis of a search warrant from a special court in Rewa after initial investigation unravelled widespread corruption in the construction of canals and the Bansagar irrigation-and-hydel project in 2006 and 2007.

Bansagar project chief engineer B. K. Tripathi and 17 contractors were named in the alleged scam, and complaint filed with the police in September 2008.

Documents pertaining to financial transactions, investments in companies and properties, vehicles and other financial arrangements worth crores of rupees were seized from the residential premises of the accused.

Documents relating to investments of more than Rs. 2 crore, Rs. 600,000 in cash, property-related documents and gold jewellery were seized from Tripathi's two residences in Satna.

Tripathi had retired voluntarily in 2006 and contested as an independent candidate from Satna in the 2008 Assembly polls but lost his deposit.

Four luxury buses and documents showing investments running into lakhs of rupees were found at executive engineer S. A. Karim's residence. The total seized property exceeded Rs. 1 crore.

At Rewa, the premises of superintendent engineer L. N. Singh yielded movable and immovable property worth more than Rs. 2 crore, while the premises of executive engineer R. P. Shukla yielded property exceeding Rs. 50 lakh.

Retired engineer Anupam Shrivastava's premises yielded property documents and also project-linked documents including tenders.

The SBIEO officials, however, did not clarify why several accused contractors including one known to be close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were not raided.

However, officials said presently the disproportionate wealth of government officials was being probed, and that the accused contractors were likely to be be next in line.(IANS)