Bhubaneswar: In a major breakthrough, Odisha Vigilance sleuths Thursday arrested absconding Senior Revenue Assistant (SRA) Sasikanta Rana of Derabish Block in Kendrapada district over embezzlement of government funds to the tune of Rs 3.03 crore.
Rana, who had been absconding for a long period after the misappropriation came to light, was traced to Anugola using digital tracking and arrested by a Vigilance team.
A Vigilance statement said that Rana systematically siphoned off government funds across two consecutive postings while being in-charge of the establishment section, which handles salaries, arrears and pensions.
During his tenure at Rajkanika Block from August 30, 2023 to September 4, 2024, he misappropriated Rs 1,46,68,118 and during his tenure at Derabish Block from January 7, 2025 to October 13, 2025, he misappropriated Rs 1,56,97,725. In total, he misappropriated Rs 3,03,65,843.
The accused manipulated disbursement records by processing fraudulent claims for salaries, arrears, gratuity, unutilized leave, and pensions in the names of retired and deceased employees on the HRMS Portal.
Instead of routing the funds to the rightful beneficiaries, he replaced their bank account details with private bank accounts operated in SBI, Bank of India and Indian Bank, Kendrapara belonging to himself and his family members – spouse, father, brother and one relative – and executed transfers via NEFT.
In this connection, a case has been registered against Rana U/s-13(2) r/w 13(1)(a) of PC Amendment Act, 2018 / 316(5)/318(4)/336(3)/344/61(2) BNS. He is being forwarded to the Court of Special Vigilance Judge, Kataka. Further investigation is in progress.
