Two Odisha govt officials under Vigilance net as assets valued at crores found during raids
Bhubaneswar, Dec 26 – Odisha’s Vigilance Agency continued its anti‑corruption drive by conducting simultaneous house searches on the properties of two state officials, a forester and a junior engineer, on accusations of holding assets that far exceeded their stated incomes.
The first set of raids targeted Niranjan Satapathy, who is posted as a forester in the Semiliguda area of the Koraput Forest Division. Acting on warrants from the Vigilance Court, six Deputy Superintendents of Police, seven Inspectors and additional staff searched five locations across Bhubaneswar, Jagatsinghpur and Koraput districts. The police seized a range of movable and immovable property, including two multi‑storey mansions in Bhubaneswar, a building in Semiliguda, and seven valuable plots spread between Jagatsinghpur, Koraput and Bhubaneswar. Other assets recovered were about 1 kg of gold jewelry, 250 g of silver ornaments, deposits totalling ₹66.42 lakh, cash of ₹9.28 lakh plus foreign currency, as well as a four‑wheel vehicle.
The investigators believe additional assets may surface as the search operation continues.
In a parallel operation, four Vigilance teams – comprising four DSPs, seven Inspectors and support personnel – carried out searches on four properties linked to Junior Engineer Nihar Ranjan Sarkar in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts. The warrants were issued by the Special Judge in Jeypore. Sarkar’s family was found to own a multi‑storey building valued above ₹2 crore, eight high‑value plots, bank deposits and investments that summed ₹26.78 lakh, two four‑wheelers and two two‑wheelers, household goods worth ₹19.34 lakh, and other valuables.
The vigilance force remains active in probing assets associated with Sarkar, with further searches pending.
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