Vigilance Directorate conducted raids on the properties of 39 government officials over the last two months. It seized disproportionate assets (DA) worth Rs 49.35 crore, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi told the Assembly, Monday. Responding to a question from BJP MLA Upasna Mohapatra, Majhi said the raids were conducted between June 12, the day when the BJP government came to power in the state, and August 25.
From August 2023 to August 25, 2024, the Vigilance Directorate seized DA worth approximately Rs 115.75 crore accumulated by government officials, Majhi added. Monday, Vigilance sleuths raided the properties of Dharanidhar Nayak, deputy director of Mines in Talcher, and uncovered significant assets, including a flat worth Rs 1.30 crore in Bhubaneswar, a duplex, a market complex, and two buildings in Keonjhar.
Additionally, they found nine plots, including two in a prime area of the City and seven in Telkoi, Keonjhar, along with Rs 9.83 lakh in cash, officials said. Nayak, who joined public service in 2014, had repaid a loan of Rs 75 lakh taken in 2022 within just two years. Vigilance sleuths suspect that the repaid amount might be derived from ill-gotten gains. Furthermore, Vigilance arrested Jayashree Pattnaik, Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) in Kutra, Sundargarh district, after she was caught red-handed.
