Odisha: Vigilance unearths assets worth crores during raids

“On the allegation of possession of assets disproportionate to the known sources of income, simultaneous house searches were conducted on the properties of Rama Chandra Satpathy, Assistant Executive Engineer, Athamallick Block in Angul district on April 16 at eight places in Angul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, and Kalahandi districts,” said a senior vigilance official.

He said that the places where searches were carried out include the residential house of Satpathy at Gayatri Nagar in Dhenkanal town, his official quarter in Athamallick, his paternal house at Banasingh under Sadar police limits in Dhenkanal district, his son-in-law’s residence at Junagarh in Kalahandi district, etc.

The official added that as many as eight teams of Odisha Vigilance, comprising seven Deputy Superintendents of Police, 15 Inspectors, and other supporting staff, conducted the search on the strength of Search Warrants issued by the Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Cuttack on Wednesday.

“The cops during the raid found that Satpathy and his family are in possession of assets including one double-storeyed building in Dhenkanal, one high-value plot in Barang area of Cuttack district and another 20 plots in and around Dhenkanal town,” he said. Sources said that the actual value of the landed plots is likely to be much higher than the Registered Sale Deed (RSD) value that stood at around Rs. 60 to .85 Lakhs.

The Vigilance Technical Wing has been carrying out measurement and valuation of the above building and plots possessed by Satpathy to ascertain the actual value of these assets. The vigilance sleuths also unearthed cash worth Rs 23.95 lakhs during the house search of Satpathy’s son-in-law, Dr. Tapan Kumar Tripathy, Medical Officer, CHC, Junagarh.

Both Satpathy and his son-in-law are being interrogated to ascertain the source of funds. The anti-corruption officials further unearthed gold ornaments weighing 350 grams, bank, postal and Insurance deposits worth Rs 1,06,66,475, two four-wheelers and two two-wheelers, household articles worth over Rs 17.31 lakhs.