ORHDC scam: Vigilance raids Kumar’s house

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Bhubaneswar: A day after a vigilance court here convicted IAS officer Vinod Kumar along with six others in the Orissa Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) scam, the anti-corruption agency raided his residence Wednesday evening. The sleuths carried out raids at A/23, VIP Colony, Nayapalli residence of the tainted officer.
When asked, vigilance SP (coordination) Ashwini Kumar Patnaik said they don’t have much information about the raid. A total of 28 cases have been filed against him in vigilance office, source said. While one of the cases relates to disproportionate assets, remaining 27 cases are on corruption.
The senior bureaucrat was not present in the special (vigilance) court during pronouncement of the judgment Tuesday.
The court later issued non-bailable arrest warrants against six, including Kumar as they were untraceable. Kumar was the director of ORHDC in 1999 when the Rs 55 lakh scam had taken place. After the 1999 Super Cyclone in the state, the ORHDC had allegedly started extending loans to private builders and individuals without adhering to prescribed guidelines. HUDCO was the nodal agency for that.
The order was pronounced by special judge (vigilance), Bhubaneswar. in which Vinod Kumar, ex- managing director, ORHDC, Purna Chandra Das, ex-executive director (technical), ORHDC, Sanjay Mohanty, ex- assistant manager, ORHDC, Pradeep Kumar Rout, ex- accounts officer, ORHDC, Chittaranjan Mallick, accountant (contractual), ORHDC and Ashis Kumar Nayak Gramya Bikas Manch were convicted.