Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance Sunday arrested a forest range officer for possession of assets disproportionate to his known source of income.
The arrested officer has been identified by the vigilance as Rajendra Kumar Samantray, forest range officer, Rahama forest range in Jagatsinghpur district, an officer said.
He was arrested for possession of disproportionate assets (DA) to the tune of 232 per cent more than his known sources of income, which he could not account for satisfactorily, said K B Acharya, SP, Vigilance, Cuttack Division.
During raids at four locations Saturday, the vigilance officers have found one triple storied building, a double storied building, five plots, Rs 3.69 lakh cash, deposits worth Rs 80.68 lakh, he said.
Besides, 250 grams of gold jewellery, one four wheeler, two motorcycles and household articles worth around Rs 14 lakh were found from the possession of the forest officer, the SP said.
Samantray had joined the service as a forester in 1985 with a salary of Rs 1,500 and worked in that rank till 2021. Then he got promotions.
As he accumulated huge assets compared to his salary, we raided his properties and arrested him, Acharya said.
