New Delhi: On Friday, the Odisha Vigilance recovered over ₹2 crore in cash and valuable assets from a government engineer’s residence during a raid related to suspected disproportionate assets.
According to news agency PTI, the anti-corruption wing of the Odisha Police conducted searches at the homes and office of Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, the Chief Engineer of Plan Roads within the state’s RW division in Bhubaneswar.
Officials indicated that the search operations at these sites were ongoing.
From the cash retrieved from Sarangi, officials reported that approximately ₹1 crore was confiscated from his flat in Bhubaneswar, while ₹1.1 crore was discovered at his residence in Angul.
However, upon noticing the officials entering his building, Sarangi attempted to dispose of cash by throwing bundles of ₹500 notes out of the window of his Bhubaneswar flat. The cash was recovered in the presence of witnesses, as stated by another official.
Sarangi faces allegations of holding assets that are disproportionate to his declared income. The Special Vigilance Judge in Angul issued search warrants that permitted officials to conduct simultaneous raids.
An official noted that the vigilance team identified a two-storey residential property in Karadagadia, Angul, along with flats located in Bhubaneswar, Siula, and Pipli in Puri district.
Searches were also executed at Sarangi’s ancestral home and the residences of his relatives in Angul. Additionally, officials raided his office chamber situated at the Chief Engineer, RD Planning and Road in Bhubaneswar.
In a separate financial crime case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) apprehended a deputy director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Odisha for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a businessman based in Bhubaneswar.
The detained ED official, Chintan Raghuvanshi, reportedly solicited ₹5 crore from businessman Ratikanta Rout, who operates a stone-mining enterprise in Dhenkanal, in exchange for providing him with ‘relief’ in a case filed against him.
