Over Rs 2 crore recovered in cash from a government employee in Odisha.
It was raining cash in Odisha's Bhubaneswar as a man threw out bundles of Rs 500 notes through his apartment window. The man has been identified as a state government employee, Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, a Chief Engineer with the State's Rural Development Department. And, the government has recovered over Rs 2 crore in cash from him in a case of alleged corruption and disproportionate assets. The road department's Chief Engineer is under the scanner.
The vigilance department has recovered around Rs 2.1 crore in cash during simultaneous raids at seven locations in Angul, Bhubaneswar and Pipili (Puri) in Odisha.
The seven locations are:
- Double-storeyed residential house at Karadagadia, Angul
- A flat at Dumduma in Bhubaneswar
- Another flat in Puri
- A house of Mr Sarangi's relative at Sikshyakapada, Angul
- Paternal house in Angul
- Double-storeyed paternal building in Angul
- Office chamber
In a dramatic turn of events, Mr Sarangi tried to dispose of bundles of cash by throwing them out of the window of his flat as vigilance officers arrived. The bundles were later recovered in presence of witnesses.
Rs 1.1 crore were found at Mr Sarangi's residence at Angul and another Rs 1 crore from the Bhubaneswar flat.
The search was carried out following allegations that Mr Sarangi possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The searches were carried out by a team of 26 police officers, including eight Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSPs), 12 inspectors and six assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs), along with other supporting staff.
In videos from the search operation, officers can be seen counting piles of cash, mainly bundles of Rs 500 notes, including some bundles of Rs 200, Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes.
The counting of the cash is still underway.
With inputs from Dev Kumar Ghosh
