Retired govt official under vigilance scanner in Odisha, assets worth several crores unearthed

Bhubaneswar: Vigilance officials of Odisha on Monday unearthed huge movable and immovable assets worth several crores during house searches on properties linked to a retired senior government official at different places.

The accused official identified as Tara Prasad Mishra is a former Chief Engineer, Roads & Building (Civil), Odisha.

The anti-corruption sleuths on Monday carried out simultaneous house searches at nine places in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Jharsuguda over the allegations of possession of assets by Mishra which is disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The places where the raids were carried out include the residential house of Mishra at Arpan Apartment in Nayapalli, two flats in Cosmopolis Apartment in Bhubaneswar, his parental house at Athagarh and a relative’s house in Timigharia in Cuttack district, etc.

“Nine teams of Odisha Vigilance comprising 12 Deputy Superintendents of Police, 12 Inspectors, 16 ASIs and other supporting staff conducted the search on the strength of search warrants issued by the Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar,” said a Vigilance official.

The vigilance sleuths have so far found Mishra and his family members possessing ten costly flats in Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda, seven plots at prime locations in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Jatani area on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

“The total registered sale deed value comes to over Rs 1 crore. However, the actual value is likely to be higher, which is being verified. The measurement and assessment of the above flats and plots are being carried out by the Vigilance Technical Wing,” informed the official.

Officials also unearthed gold ornaments weighing above 2.555 kg and diamond ornaments weighing 370 gms, two luxury cars including a Mercedes Benz, foreign currencies of USA, Thailand, Vietnam, UAE, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia and Singapore unearthed during the house searches on Monday.

Meanwhile, the cops are yet to open two more lockers of Mishra being operated at HDFC Bank, Nayapalli branch and Axis Bank, CRPF branch in Bhubaneswar.

The cops found that Mishra had spent Rs 80 Lakhs on the medical education of his daughter (MBBS and MD). The sleuths also unearthed cash to the tune of Rs 6 lakhs during the house search.

“Based on the TDS deposit of Mishra, he is suspected to be having deposits over Rs 2.7 crore in various banks. This is being verified by approaching the bank authorities,” said the vigilance official.

–IANS