Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Sunday arrested a senior clerk of the Divisional Forest Officer’s office in Dhenkanal and two of his associates for allegedly embezzling nearly Rs 65.91 lakh in public funds over a decade.
The accused are Sujit Kumar Jena, senior clerk at the DFO office, Dhenkanal; Soumya Ranjan Behera, a staffer with the Elephant Squad in Sadar Range; and Rashmi Ranjan Swain, a close associate of Jena. They have been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
According to a Vigilance release, a detailed scrutiny of transactions from 2016 to 2026 uncovered a systematic diversion of government money. Jena allegedly misused his official position to divert salaries meant for dismissed or absconding employees, arrears of retiring staff, provisional pensions, establishment pay bills, contingency expenses, staff salary arrears and false travelling allowance claims into bank accounts belonging to him, his family members and the co-accused.
Specific transfers identified so far include Rs 8,72,520 credited to Jena’s mother’s account, Rs 10,48,866 to Behera and Rs 8,86,193 to Swain.
After the irregularities came to light, the three men went into hiding for a prolonged period. Vigilance teams tracked them using technical intelligence and mobile location data. The accused were produced before the Special Judge (Vigilance), Dhenkanal, on Sunday.
Further investigation is underway to determine the involvement of any other persons in the misappropriation, the release added.
