Bhubaneswar: A day after recovering Rs five lakh cash from an intercepted vehicle, Odisha Vigilance on Saturday arrested Dhaneswar Barad, Superintendent of Excise, Raurkela.
Based on reliable inputs that Barad had collected huge bribe cash from excise licensees, a team of Vigilance was keeping a watch on him.
While he was sending cash of Rs five lakh through a salesman of a local wine shop in an SUV on Friday, the Vigilance team intercepted the vehicle in front of the Excise Superintendent’s Office located at Uditnagar, Rourkela in presence of witnesses. During search, the team recovered Rs five lakh in cash.
According to a Vigilance statement, the salesman admitted that the cash was given by Excise Superintendent Barad for delivery to his residence. On confrontation, Barad also admitted the same and could not give any satisfactory explanation for the recovered cash of Rs 5,00,000. The cash has been seized.
Following the seizure of Rs 5 lakh suspected ill-gotten cash of Barad, simultaneous house searches were conducted at his residential locations at D-31, Civil Township, Rourkela and double storeyed building located at Raghunathpur, Bhubaneswar.
During searches, the following assets were unearthed;
1) One double storeyed building at Raghunathpur, Bhubaneswar of area approximately 2700 sq ft.
2) 4 plots including 1 at Bhubaneswar and 3 on the outskirts of Nayagada.
3) Deposits Rs.33.97 Lakhs. Documents relating to other investments and deposits have been recovered and are under verification.
After thorough search, inventory and further enquiry, the income, expenditure and assets of Barad were calculated and he was found in possession of disproportionate assets which were 100% in excess of his known sources of income. Further investigation of the case is in progress.