Jaipur, Oct. 30 -- Senior IAS officer Shikhar Agrawal was placed on awaiting posting orders (APO) late Wednesday, days after a Hindi daily report raised questions about the purchase of 40 villas and cottages by him and his family from a single company and their subsequent leaseback to the firm. The controversy has also brought attention to a document purportedly issued by the Rajasthan finance department, granting a customised incentive package to the company for its hotel and resort project in Ajabgarh, Alwar. The document bears the same date as the reported registration of 20 villas purchased by the family at the resort. The personnel department's order cited "administrative grounds" for placing Agrawal on APO. A 1993-batch Rajasthan-cadre officer, Agrawal held several key responsibilities, including additional chief secretary of industries and micro, small and medium enterprises, and chairman of the Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO). He previously served as additional chief secretary to chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. HT contacted Agrawal and his wife, IPS officer Prashakha Mathur, for their responses but had not received a reply at the time of publication. HT has not independently verified the reported transactions, lease agreements or the incentive document. According to media reports, Agrawal, Mathur, their two sons and his parents-in-law purchased 20 cottages at the Ananta resort in Bujhda, Udaipur, and 20 villas at the Ajabgarh resort from Goyal Fashions Private Limited over approximately two-and-a-half years. The combined purchase price was reportedly Rs.6.16 crore. The Udaipur cottages were registered in September 2023, while the Ajabgarh villas were reportedly registered on March 27, 2026. The properties were subsequently leased back to the company from which they had been purchased. Reports put the annual lease payment at Rs.4 lakh for each Udaipur cottage and Rs.5 lakh for each Ajabgarh villa, taking the combined annual amount to Rs.1.80 crore. At those reported rates, gross lease receipts would equal the purchase price in approximately 3.4 years. The arrangement raises questions about how the purchase prices and lease payments were determined, and whether comparable terms were available to other buyers at the resorts. Reports have also questioned whether the Ajabgarh properties were reflected in the officers' immovable property returns. Agrawal has reportedly maintained that the purchases were disclosed in his and Mathur's property statements and tax returns, and that the department had not updated the records. HT could not independently establish the disclosure timeline....