BHUBANESWAR: A 53-year-old deputy manager with the state-run Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Limited was arrested by vigilance officials on Wednesday on charges of amassing disproportionate assets of ₹14.87 crore, people aware of the development said.
A senior vigilance official said they suspected the deputy manager, identified as Pratap Samal, allegedly owned at least 25 plots, and three buildings including a 5-storey building in Bhubaneswar. The official had bank deposits of ₹1.61 crore and paid an annual insurance premium of nearly ₹57.72 lakh.
Samal and his wife Sasmita couldn’t explain the source of the assets, the official claimed. She has been charged with abetting her husband.
“This is the highest-ever seizure of disproportionate assets by a state government official,” a second vigilance official said, underlining that the ₹14.87 crore figure was the acquisition value of the assets as is the norm for disproportionate assets cases, and not the market value which would be much higher.
Director Vigilance Yeshwant Jethwa said his officials are committed to taking stronger actions against corruption in the coming days.
{{/usCountry}}Director Vigilance Yeshwant Jethwa said his officials are committed to taking stronger actions against corruption in the coming days.
{{/usCountry}}“We have a proficient pool of skilled Investigators, a legal team comprising legal advisors, counsels, a financial wing with CAs (chartered accountants), banking officers for an in-depth analysis of financial transactions, a technical wing comprising civil engineers for valuation of properties. We are going to use the latest technology for investigations,” said Jethwa.
The previous record for disproportionate assets unearthed by vigilance officials in Odisha was associated with former Indian Forest Service officer Abhay Kant Pathak. When he was raided in November last, officials allegedly found assets worth ₹9.35 crore.
When vigilance officials raided Pratap Samal’s house on Tuesday, he allegedly pushed a carton packed with bundles of currency notes from his roof to his neighbour’s house in Bhubaneswar’s IRC village. But the vigilance officials saw him and brought back the carton.
Officials counted currency notes totalling ₹20 lakh. Another ₹18 lakh was found in his house.
Samal, who did a diploma in civil engineering, joined the corporation set up in 1980 to construct buildings for the police, as a junior engineer in August 1988. He was promoted to the rank of deputy manager in 2013, and drew a monthly salary of ₹71,000 last month, a vigilance official said.
Last year, Odisha topped the states in lodging disproportionate assets cases against corrupt government officials. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 93 such cases were registered by Odisha in 2020 followed by Gujarat with 37 cases, and Tamil Nadu with 21 cases. The NCRB report said disproportionate assets amounting to ₹123.92 crore were seized in Odisha, up from ₹62.83 crore assets seized by the vigilance department from government employees in 2019.