Odisha Vigilance unearths massive assets including Rs 2.52 crore cash at govt official’s residence

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance unearthed huge movable and immovable assets worth over several crores including Rs 2.52 crore in cash during house searches at different locations linked to senior engineer of state Rural Development department who is going to retire from services on Saturday, informed Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa, the Director of Vigilance here on Friday.

“On May 30, 2025, on the allegation of possession of disproportionate assets (DA) by Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, Chief Engineer, Plan Roads, RW Division, Odisha, Bhubaneswar, beyond his known sources of income, simultaneous house searches are being conducted by Odisha Vigilance at seen places in Angul, Bhubaneswar and Pipili in Puri,” Jethwa added.

Interestingly, on seeing the Vigilance officers, Sarangi was found throwing cash bundles of Rs 500 notes through the window of his flat at Bhubaneswar.

The same was recovered in the presence of witnesses by the search team of the Vigilance Department. The anti-corruption sleuths unearthed Rs 1.30 crore from his residential house at Angul and Rs 1.21 crore from his flat at Bhubaneswar during the simultaneous searches on Friday.

The searches were conducted by the vigilance teams comprising eight Deputy Superintendents of Police, 12 Inspectors, six Assistant Sub-Inspectors, and other supporting staff on the strength of search warrants issued by the Special Judge, Vigilance, Angul.

The vigilance officials also found Sarangi in possession of two multi-storeyed buildings in Angul, two flats, seven high-value plots in posh areas of Bhubaneswar and Angul, insurance and bank deposits worth Rs 1.5 crores, investment in shares to the tune of Rs 2.7 crores, etc.

Speaking to media persons, the Jethwa further stated that the Vigilance Technical Wing is carrying out measurement and valuation of the above buildings, flats and plots unearthed so far during the ongoing house searches linked to Sarangi.

Jethwa informed the media that the vigilance will also launch an investigation into the projects and other approvals under Sarangi in the coming days and will take action if any illegality is found during the enquiry.

The Vigilance officials suspect that more assets could be unearthed during the searches, which are still going on.

–IANS