Record Rs 4.27cr in cash seized from flat of Odisha officer arrested in corruption case

Bhubaneswar: Stacks of notes packed in trolley bags, totalling over Rs 4.27 crore, were allegedly recovered from the house of an Odisha Mines Department officer, who was arrested in a corruption case, officials said on Wednesday. The cash was seized from the Bhubaneswar flat of Deputy Director of Mines Debabrata Mohanty, arrested by the state Vigilance Department on Tuesday night, they said. Vigilance Director Yeshwant Jethwa said this is the highest-ever cash seized by the anti-corruption agency in the state. Bhubaneswar division's Vigilance SP Saroj Kumar Samal said that so far, cash worth Rs 4.27 crore has been counted. "Mohanty was booked in a similar corruption case in 2009, and the trial against him is still going on at a court in Mayurbhanj district," he added. Attacking the ruling BJP, state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das alleged that the recovery of the cash exposed the staggering scale of corruption flourishing right under the watch "of the so-called double-engine government" in the state.

Mohanty was apprehended while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a licensed coal vendor in exchange for facilitating smooth operations, officials said. Following his arrest, the Vigilance Department conducted simultaneous searches at his Bhubaneswar flat, his parental house in Bhadrak district, and his office in Cuttack, and made the seizures, they said. Additionally, Rs 1.20 lakh in cash was recovered from Mohanty's office drawer, they added. Other assets detected so far include a palatial double-storey house in Bhubaneswar and approximately 130 gram of gold. Besides, there is a 2,400 sq ft plot in his name where a two-storied building is being constructed, officials said. "Mohanty has 10 bank accounts and lockers in his name. Those are also being verified," the SP said. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered, officials said. Mohanty entered government service as a junior mining officer at a salary of Rs 8,000 in 2004. He worked in Bolangir, Baripada, and Berhampur before being transferred to Cuttack, where he is posted at present, they said. The previous highest cash seizure made by the agency was Rs 3.4 crore, found at the residence of an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Division in Ganjam district on April 7, 2022.