Gold Coins, Rs 1.5 Crore Cash And Counting: Odisha Forest Officer Raided

The Odisha Vigilance Department on Friday raided six locations linked to a forest official after detecting disproportionate assets beyond his known sources of income and recovered at least Rs 1.44 crore in cash.

During the early morning raids at the six locations linked to deputy ranger Rama Chandra Nepak, four gold biscuits and 16 gold coins weighing 10 grams each were also found.

Multiple teams of senior officials were deployed to raid Nepak, who worked at the Jaipur forest range.

The operations were continuing, officials said.

The huge amount of cash was recovered from his flat in an apartment in Jaipur. A currency-counting machine had to be brought to his house during the raid.

Raids were also ongoing at a flat he owned in the same apartment.

Searches were also ongoing at his office, a house built on his ancestral land in Jaipur, his in-laws' house in Jaipur, and his brother's flat in Bhubaneswar.

Second Forest Officer Raided In 1 Week

A Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in Keonjhar was raided last week, with officials finding 115 land plots in his name, gold weighing 200 grams, a small armoury containing rifles, and other assets worth crores. 

During raids at seven places of Nityananda Nayak on Sunday, the officials also recovered cash worth Rs 1.55 lakh, one four-storeyed building in Angul, two four-wheelers and four two-wheelers, and a collection of teak artefacts. 

He had the highest number of properties owned by any government officer.

(With inputs from Dev Kumar Ghosh)