Wealth Accumulated By Odisha STA Deputy Commissioner Stuns Vigilance Sleuths; Check Details

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Thursday unearthed four multi-storey buildings, 11 plots, a farm house spread over 14 acres and gold ornaments weighing 700 grams during raids on Deputy Commissioner, State Transport Authority (STA), Pradeep Kumar Mohanty, for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Besides gold ornaments, three gold biscuits and Rs 15 lakh in cash were also seized from his Maitri Vihar residence here.

The Vigilance release further mentioned about Rs 1 crore paid by Mohanty for purchasing a 4-BHK flat in 9 Bolevard apartment at Raghunathpur, Bhubaneswar, and three ‘Benami’ four-wheelers.

Assets detected in the names of Mohanty and his family members are as follows:

1. A triple-storey residential building over 2400 sqft area at Maitri Vihar, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar.

2. A five-storey under construction building at Govindaprasad, Khurda.

3. A triple-storey under construction building over 7500 sqft area at Balukhand, Puri (the asset is suspected to be benami which is under verification).

4. One building at his native village Tangi, Khurda.

5. A farm house at Kusupalla, Nayagarh.

6. 11 high-value plots in Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Ranapur and Nayagarh, including one big patch of agricultural land.

7. Rs 15 lakh in cash.

8. 3 gold biscuits (100 grams each) and 700-gram gold ornaments.

9. Three 4-wheelers (Mahindra XUV-700, Maruti Suzuki Brezza & Maruti Suzuki Swift) suspected to be benami and the same are under verification) & one two-wheeler (Bullet).

The measurement and valuation/assessment of the buildings/flat/plots/farm house are being carried out by Vigilance Technical Wing. Bank, Postal, Insurance deposits and other investments are also being ascertained, it added.

On the strength of search warrants issued by Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar, officials of the anti-corruption agency began simultaneous house searches at nine places in Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh, and Cuttack this morning.

The raids were conducted at Mohanty’s house at Maitri Vihar, a 4-BHK flat in Raghunathpur, and an under-construction five-storey building in the Gobinda Prasad area here. His house in Khurda’s Tangi area, a farmhouse at Kusupalla in Nayagarh district, an office in Cuttack, his relative’s house in Puri, a petrol pump in the capital’s Malipada, and an under-construction building in Puri’s Balikhand were also searched.