Odisha’s vigilance officials on Sunday said they identified a divisional forest officer in Keonjhar district who had amassed 115 plots in his and his family member’s name over a period of two decades.
The detection was the highest accumulation of housing properties by a government functionary.
Following a raid on alleged disproportionate assets amassed by Nityananda Nayak, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Kenduleaf division in Keonjhar district, the officials found he and his family members were in possession of 115 plots amassed across three districts, said vigilance department director general YK Jethwa.
Of the 115 plots, at least 53 were registered in the DFO’s name, while 42 were in his wife’s name.
The rest were in the names of his two sons’ and only daughter. The raids, conducted by three deputy commissioner of police (DSPs), ten inspectors, and other officials in Keonjhar, Angul, and Nayagarh districts, went to Nayak’s four-storey building in Angul, his paternal house in Madanmohan Patna, in-laws’ house in Jagannathpur, DFO office and residence in Keonjhar, and his son’s house and office in Komanda, Nayagarh. The searches were authorised by the special vigilance judge in Keonjhar.
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{{/usCountry}}Nayak’s plot acquisitions began after he joined government service as a forest range officer in 1992. He purchased two plots between 1992 and 2006 across Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, and Sonepur districts. His most significant acquisition occurred during his tenure as Forest Ranger under Khariar Forest Division in Nuapada from 2007 to 2015, where he acquired 64 plots, the highest number linked to any single posting. As Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) in Khariar and
Rayagada Forest Divisions from 2015 to 2022, he bought 39 plots. He added eight plots while serving as Deputy Conservator of Forest at the PCCF (Wildlife) office in Bhubaneswar (2022–2024) and two more after becoming DFO in Keonjhar in 2024.
Beyond the plots, Nayak owns a four-storey building spanning 9,000 square feet in Turanga, Angul, currently under valuation by the Vigilance Department’s Technical Wing. The searches also uncovered ₹1.19 lakh in cash, two four-wheelers, and four two-wheelers in Nayak’s possession.
Nayak topped the list with 115 plots while Pravas Kumar Pradhan, chief construction engineer, Anandpur Barrage Project, was placed in the second position with 105 plots. The vigilance department had arrested Pradhan in August last year for possessing disproportionate assets.