PATNA, Aug. 23 -- The Economic Offence Unit (EOU) sleuths on Friday arrested a superintending engineer of the Rural Works Department (RWD) in Patna. Officials said the raid was conducted at his four-storey building located at Bhootnath Road under Agamkuan police station. During the search, the EOU recovered Rs.39.40 lakh in cash, half-burnt currency notes worth Rs.12 lakh, gold and silver ornaments valued at Rs.26 lakh, life insurance policy papers, an Innova vehicle, and documents related to movable and immovable properties estimated at around Rs.100 crore. The arrested engineer has been identified as Vinod Kumar Rai, said to be close to a Janata Dal (United) leader. The case is likely to be taken over by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Rai is currently posted at the Sitamarhi division and also holds additional charge of the Madhubani division. According to officials, the EOU received information late on Thursday evening that the engineer was travelling to Patna from Sitamarhi with Rs.5 crore in his car. Acting on the tip-off, a team led by additional SP Indra Prakash reached his residence, where his wife Babli Rai initially tried to prevent them from entering on the pretext that it was late at night and no male member was present. The house was kept under watch throughout the night. Around 2 am, officials noticed papers being burnt inside but waited until dawn to conduct a search. At 5.20 am, when the EOU team entered the premises, they found that the lower two floors were rented out, while the family occupied the upper two. In the kitchen, investigators discovered that Rs.500 currency notes had been set on fire on the LPG stove, allegedly by Vinod's wife with the help of other family members. Officials suspect that burnt notes were also flushed through toilets and drains. The Patna Municipal Corporation was roped in to collect residue for forensic examination, with sinks, commodes, and drains filled with burnt remains of notes. During the search, workers found Rs.39.40 lakh cash wrapped in a plastic sheet and dumped inside the water tank....