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A government officer threw a bag full of cash on a neighbour’s terrace in a bid to escape a raid by Odisha’s vigilance department. The incident took place on Tuesday morning and property worth Rs 14.87 crore was also seized.
The raid, which began on Tuesday morning, continued for more than 36 hours.
Odisha Police Housing and Welfare Corporation’s (OPHWC) deputy manager, Pratap Samal and his wife Sasmita Samal have been arrested by the vigilance department on charges of accumulating assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The anti-corruption agency also raided multiple locations across the state on Tuesday and unearthed property to the tune of over Rs 14.87 crore owned by Samal and his family. The total seizure is 1021% of their sources of income. The total seizure was to the tune of Rs 15 crore.
As the vigilance sleuths reached Samal’s residence to conduct raid, Samal had reportedly locked the main gate of his triple-storey house at IRC village and threw the bag containing around Rs 20 lakh to his neighbour’s terrace while the anti-corruption wing’s officials were waiting at his doorstep.
However, the money, along with an additional Rs 18 lakh, were recovered by the vigilance officials during the raid.
Yashwant Kumar Jethwa, director, Vigilance department, told India Today TV that Samal and his spouse were found in possession of huge disproportionate assets, which he couldn’t explain satisfactorily.
Bhubaneswar Vigilance PS Case No 34/2021 dated 10.11.2021 u/s 13(2) r/w 13(1)b /12 PC Act 1988, as amended by PC (Amendment) Act 2018, has been registered against Pratap Kumar Samal and his wife Sasmita Samal.
Odisha Vigilance officials have unearthed as many as 25 immovable properties worth crores, including 22 plots and 3 buildings, possessed by Samal and his wife Sasmita. The properties include 17 plots and two buildings in Bhubaneswar and Khurda.
The value of the immovable properties, including registration, and stamp duty is Rs 3,41,58,412. The actual price is likely to be higher. Valuation of a five-storey building at Gothapatna is Rs 3,89,60,000, as per self-declaration of Samal and his wife, official sources said.
Technical valuation of other buildings was being done by the Technical Wing of Odisha Vigilance. Deposits of Rs 1,61,35,812.50 were found in the bank accounts of Samal and his family members. This apart, insurance premium of Rs 57,72,150 has been paid by them, the sources added.
The bank accounts have been frozen while further investigation is underway.
As many as 10 teams of the Odisha Vigilance conducted the searches issued by the court of special judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar
