Sambalpur: The Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday arrested two officials of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla — Establishment Officer-cum-Office Superintendent Dhanurdhar Biswal and Steward Aswini Meher — for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
They are scheduled to be produced before the Special Judge, Vigilance, Sambalpur.
According to Vigilance officials, simultaneous raids were conducted at the residences, other properties, and office premises of the duo on Tuesday, leading to the recovery of assets worth several crores of rupees that the officials could not explain satisfactorily.
In the case of Dhanurdhar Biswal, searches at his double-storey residence at Dhankauda, a building at Gudesinga in Sambalpur, government quarters in the medical staff colony, and his office chamber at VIMSAR revealed significant assets. These included two buildings (one multi-storeyed spanning about 1,700 sq ft), 32 valuable plots of land, cash over Rs 19.72 lakh, gold jewellery weighing 83.05 grams, bank deposits worth Rs 39 lakh, two Hyva trucks, two tractors, and one four-wheeler, among other items.
Biswal joined government service as a junior clerk at VIMSAR in January 1997 with a modest monthly salary of Rs 2,500. He received promotions over the years, serving as senior clerk, medical record keeper, and head clerk before being elevated to the post of Office Superintendent in January 2019. He had remained posted at the institute for nearly three decades.
In the parallel case involving Aswini Meher, Vigilance teams uncovered three buildings, including a multi-storey structure of 8145 sqft, one store room, 10 valuable plots of land, 83 grams of gold jewellery, and two two-wheelers.
