Vigilance unearths Rs. 1.5 cr cash from officer’s house

Malkangiri: The anti-corruption Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday seized around Rs 1.5 crore in cash from the house of an Odisha government officer in Malkangiri district during a raid.

The Vigilance raided the house of Deputy Director and Project Director of Watershed, Malkangiri, Santanu Mohapatra, for possessing disproportionate assets.

The Vigilance said that approximately Rs 1.5 crore cash was seized during the ongoing search of Santanu Mohapatra’s house.

“Simultaneous house searches are being conducted by Odisha Vigilance led by 2 ASPs, 4 DSPs, 10 Inspectors, 6 ASIs and other supporting staff on the strength of search warrants issued by Special Judge, Vigilance, Jeypore,” the Vigilance said, adding that the search is going on at seven locations including Malkangiri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar The houses of people connected with Mohapatra are also being searched, the Vigilance said.

During the search operation, the Vigilance officials found a triple-storied building located at Jeypore.

The office chamber of Santanu at Malkangiri, his paternal house at Nuapada, Balisahi, Cuttack, and houses of his relative at Bhimatangi, Housing Board Colony, Bhubaneswar were also searched.

Santanu Mohapatra, after completing his MSc in Agriculture Economics, joined government service as Junior Soil Conservation Officer in 1995 and was posted in the office of Assistant Soil Conservation Officer, Khurda and he continued in the post till the year 2000.

From December 2000 to December 2009, he was on deputation as Assistant Seeds Production Officer at Mathili in Malkangiri. In 2009, he was transferred and posted as Assistant Seeds Production Officer under Seeds Production Officer, Jeypore, and continued till 2016.

Santanu was promoted to the rank of Assistant Soil Conservation officer in 2016 and posted under Project Director, Watershed, Ganjam in Berhampur.

He was then promoted to the rank of Assistant Director, Soil Conservation, and posted as Project Director, Watershed, Paralakhemundi, in Gajapati district.

He was transferred and posted as Deputy Director, Soil Conservation-cum-Project Director, Watershed in Malkangiri in 2021.