In a special drive, the fourth this year, CBI has so far registered 40 cases against 50 public servants.

In Mumbai, CBI sleuths recovered Rs 8 lakh from Commissioner of Income Tax Tribunal BR Meena, an IRS officer of the 1977 batch.

During the searches, CBI claimed to have found that the official, who has been booked in a Disproportionate Assets case, had built a palatial house in Jaipur worth Rs one crore.

The agency also claimed to have recovered documents showing that Meena was in possession of 18 land plots.

Among those raided were former Punjab minister Nirmal Singh, one Superintendent of Central Excise in Chennai and a Deputy Chief Engineer of Southern Railways.

In Delhi, four cases have been registered so far, including against a Delhi Police inspector, Ishwar Singh.

In Kolkata, raids were conducted at 15 places, including the homes and offices of three Government officials.

"We are investigating a director of National Institute of Homeopathy and a BSNL sub-divisional engineer. There is another case relating to SBI home loan," a CBI source said.

In Patna, the CBI raided the premises of the Bihar state convenor of the Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), some NGOs and an official of the cantonment board.

SP, CBI (Patna), R Shivaji said investigative agency had registered four cases in connection with the "swindling" of public money by various non-government organisations through CAPART.

The CBI also conducted raids at places in Deoghar, Godda and Dumka in Jharkhand. According to initial reports, the sleuths raided the residence of a BSNL engineer, Inder Dev Yadav, at Nunajore village in Godda district.

In Chennai, the residences of a Superintendent of Central Excise and an Assistant Commissioner of Customs were being searched since early this morning, a CBI official said.

Meanwhile in Visakhapatnam, the CBI has booked a senior railway official for allegedly selling off 12 railway wagons valued at Rs 54 lakh.