OAS Officer Prasanta Rout In Vigilance Net Again; Rs 2.5 Cr Seized From Bhubaneswar Residence

Bhubaneswar: Nearly five years after being arrested in Rs 1 lakh bribery case, Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer Prasanta Kumar Rout has once again come under Vigilance scanner for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets.

He currently posted as additional sub-collector, Nabarangpur.

On Friday, the Vigilance sleuths seized Rs 500 notes worth over Rs 2.5 crore stashed in six cartons during the raid on his double-storey building at Kanan Vihar in Bhubaneswar. Another Rs 77 lakh was recovered from his Nabarangpur residence.

Besides these two places, simultaneous searches are being conducted at his office chamber in Nabarangpur, his parental house at Bahudarada village in Bhadrak and 5 other locations of his acquittances.

Several important documents, bank passbooks and ATM cards have been seized from his possession, sources said.

Further details awaited.

In 2018, Rout was arrested for allegedly demanding and accepting Rs 1 lakh bribe from Jhirpani Executive Officer for giving administrative approval to a project worth Rs 11.50 lakh. He was then serving as Block Development Officer (BDO), Bisra, in Sundargarh district.