3 Odisha Govt. officials in Vig net for ill-gotten wealth

Bhubaneswar: Vigilance officials on Monday unearthed huge ill-gotten wealth from three Odisha Government officials in a day. The search operation is still going on.

They are Deputy General Manager in Odisha State Police Housing Welfare Corporation (OSPHWC), Berhampur division, Subash Chandra Panda; Kamakshyanagar sub-collector Narayan Chandra Nayak and Dr Ashok Das, consultant O&G (clinical)-cum- Joint Director of Kalahandi district headquarters hospital (DHH) at Bhawanipatna.

Vigilance unearthed assets including two palatial buildings, four plots and Rs 13 lakh cash during simultaneous raids at four places linked to Subash Chandra Panda, Deputy General Manager, Eng (Civil) in Odisha State Police Housing Welfare Corporation (OSPHWC), Berhampur division.

An official statement said that Panda threw away Rs 10 lakh cash from his triple storeyed building to the terrace of neighbour’s building on seeing the Vigilance team. The Rs 10 lakh cash was recovered by the team of Vigilance. Further, Rs 3 lakh was also unearthed from the house during searches and total Rs.13 lakh unearthed.

The Vigilance sleuths also traced 3 multi-storey buildings, including a 3-storey in Bhubaneswar, 13 high value plots, Rs 1.48 lakh in cash and 250 gram gold during raids on Kamakshyanagar sub-collector for allegedly accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Simultaneous house searches were carried out by teams led by 7 DSPs, 3 inspectors, 8 ASIs, and other supporting staff on the strength of search warrants issued by Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar, at 10 places in Bhubaneswar (Khurda), Dhenkanal, Bhadrak, and Mayurbhanj.

The anti-corruption sleuths also apprehended the Joint Director of Kalahandi DHH while allegedly accepting Rs 6,000 bribe. Das had demanded the illegal gratification from the complainant for pre-natal and post-natal treatment to his pregnant relative admitted to the hospital. The entire bribe money was recovered and seized from his possession.