Odisha mining official who hoarded ₹4.27cr cash walked home alone to keep secret

The crores stuffed in Debabrata Mohanty’s, deputy director of mines home remain untouched, uninvested, a problem he planned to solve after retirement, albeit, he never got the chance

Published on: Feb 27, 2026, 08:54:26 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

For years, Debabrata Mohanty, deputy director of mines, Cuttack Circle, never let his guard down. He would never let his driver drop him home. He rather chose to walk back home after getting dropped off by his driver a few kilometres short of his Bhubaneswar flat.

Mohanty, 57, was arrested on Wednesday after getting caught red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹30,000 from a licensed coal vendor. (PTI file photo)

The crores stuffed inside trolley bags and almirahs in his apartment remain untouched, uninvested, a problem he planned to solve after retirement, albeit, he never got the chance.

A day after Odisha Vigilance seized ₹4.27 crore in cash from Mohanty’s flat, the largest such haul in the agency’s history, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday wrote to the state vigilance seeking case details to launch a parallel money laundering probe, officials said.

Also Read: ₹4 cr cash seized from mines official’s flat in record cash haul: Odisha Vigilance

Mohanty, 57, was arrested on Wednesday after getting caught red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹30,000 from a licensed coal vendor in exchange for allowing the smooth functioning of the complainant’s coal depot and for granting permission to transport coal.

Senior vigilance officials say Mohanty took extraordinary precautions to keep the hoard secret.

“He was extremely worried about so much cash lying at home. He did not invest the money in property or in other assets for fear that any financial movement would alert investigators.

“He thought he would find some way to invest the money after his retirement,” said a senior official.

Though vigilance officials are yet to take him on remand, initial questioning by the vigilance officials revealed that he made most of his money during his posting as mining officer in Phulbani from April 2022 to December 2025, with jurisdiction over Kandhamal, Boudh and Nayagarh — districts where illegal extraction of minor minerals including stone chips and river sand is rampant.

The steel and mines department which looks after minor minerals such as sand, stone chips and laterite has long made it a fertile ground for graft, vigilance officials said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

Home/Cities/Others/Odisha Mining Official Who Hoarded ₹4.27cr Cash Walked Home Alone To Keep Secret