Odisha: Two senior govt officials arrested over DA charges

Bhubaneswar, Nov 19 (IANS) The Odisha Vigilance has arrested two senior government officials on the charges of amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income, said a senior vigilance official on Tuesday.

As per the reports, movable and immovable properties worth crores were unearthed on Monday during house searches at different places linked to the accused officials- Narayan Chandra Nayak, the sub-collector of Kamakshyanagar in Dhenkanal district and Subash Chandra Panda, Deputy General Manager, Eng. (civil), Odisha State Police Housing Welfare Corporation (OPHWC), Berhampur division.

In the first case, the vigilance officials on Tuesday apprehended the senior Odisha Administrative Service officer Nayak by registering a case against him and his wife after he was found amassing assets that were 130 per cent in excess of the known sources of his income.

During the house searches earlier on Monday, the cops found Nayak and his family members are in possession of three multi-storeyed buildings including one triple-storeyed building in Bhubaneswar, 14 high-value plots including seven in prime locations in Bhubaneswar, six in Bhadrak and one in Pipili in Puri district, deposits over Rs 37.50 lakhs, cash over Rs1.48 lakhs, gold weighing 366 gms, household articles worth around Rs.15.5 Lakhs, etc.

In another disproportionate assets case, the vigilance sleuths on Tuesday arrested Subash Chandra Panda who is posted as the DGM, OPHWC at Berhampur division. He was apprehended for the possession of assets which exceeds by over 303 per cent of his actual source of income.

“Based on the house searches carried out by the vigilance officers, Panda and his family members were found possessing disproportionate assets including two multi-storeyed buildings in Bhubaneswar, payment of Rs 66 lakhs to realtor for the purchase of a 4-BHK flat at Kalinganagar in Bhubaneswar, gold weighing 870 gms, nine high-value plots at prime locations in Bhubaneswar, deposits in a bank account, insurance policies, postal deposits and investment in Mutual fund to the tune of Rs 1.85 crore, cash worth Rs 13.47 lakhs, household articles worth around Rs 29.38 Lakhs etc,” added the vigilance official.

Notably, Panda was dismissed in 2010 by competent authority on charges of gross misconduct, dereliction of duty, and disobedience of orders. He was later reinstated following the orders of the Orissa High Court.

The accused officials were on Tuesday produced before the court here that later sent them to 14-days judicial custody.

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