Odisha vigilance seizes ₹2 crore cash from state administrative officer’s house

According to officials, Rout allegedly made money from the stone mining mafia in the district by allowing them to dig up from government lands without following rules and procedures

The anti-corruption vigilance sleuths in Odisha on Friday raided and seized over ₹2 crore in the denomination of ₹500 currency notes from a state administrative officer while he was trying to throw wads of such notes to the terrace of his neighbour’s house, said officials.

Six cartons of ₹500 currency notes were seized from the house state official Prashant Rout (HT Photo)

Officials of the directorate of vigilance, Odisha, said Prashant Rout, now posted as additional sub-collector of Nabarangpur district was caught red-handed throwing the currency notes to the terrace of his neighbour from his house in Bhubaneswar during a pre-dawn raid.

“We seized six cartons of ₹500 currency notes from his house which he had recently managed to get in exchange for ₹2000 notes. We have so far found ₹2 crore in cash but there could be more in his other houses. By the end of the day we would know about his illegal income,” said a senior vigilance official who led the probe.

Nine Odisha vigilance teams consisting of two additional superintendents of police, seven deputy superintendents, eight inspectors and other staff are conducting simultaneous raids at nine places in Bhubaneswar, Nabarangpur and Bhadrak, said the officials.

There have been several allegations and complaints of corruption and bribery against Rout, who in 2018 was arrested by the vigilance team for demanding Rs.1 lakh (in bribe) from a panchayat executive officer while he was the Block Development Officer in Sundargarh district.

Last year, the state vigilance department registered 84 cases relating to disproportionate assets, the highest in the country in 2022. Nearly 200 government officials were arrested.

On March 5 this year, the Odisha Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) observed the Panchayati Raj Divas as ‘Bhrashtachar Diwas’ (corruption day) across the state alleging massive corruption by state government officials under Biju Janata Dal rule.

Thousands of BJP workers wore black ribbons/cloths around their necks and hands marking the protest and also staged sit-ins in all 314 blocks. They alleged that Odisha has become a breeding ground for corruption with irregularities to the tune of Rs.5,000 crore every year in the Panchayati Raj system.

Panchayati Raj is the system of local self-government of villages in rural India.