Odisha Vigilance Arrests Sarpanch Caught With Rs 5.4 Lakh Unaccounted Cash

Bhubaneswar: A day after being caught with Rs 5.4 lakh unaccounted cash, sarpanch of Kahalandi’s Brundabahal gram panchayat, Dinesh Kumar Rout, was arrested by the Odisha Vigilance on Saturday.

According to an official release, Rout was placed under arrest and will be forwarded to court soon.

A team of Odisha Vigilance intercepted Rout’s car while he was proceeding to Brundabahal from Golamunda in Kalahandi district and seized Rs 5.4 lakh in cash from his possession on Friday.

As Rout could not account for the source of money satisfactorily, the amount recovered from him was seized, Vigilance said. The vehicle in which he was travelling was also seized.

It is suspected that the amount was bribe collection by Rout as PC from contractors executing various developmental projects in the panchayat area, the agency had said.

Following the interception, searches are being carried out at two locations linked to Rout to ascertain whether he has accumulated assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. He is also being questioned to ascertain the source of money.