Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday arrested a forest officer for allegedly possessing assets, including 115 plots, disproportionate to his known source of income, officials said.

During raids conducted at seven places, linked to the forest officer, in the past two days, sleuths of the anti-corruption wing of the State government detected 115 land parcels in his name and also in the possession of his family members. “Arrested Nityananda Nayak is the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Kendu Leaf Division, Keonjhar. He will be forwarded to the court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Keonjhar,” the Vigilance said.

On the allegation of possession of assets, disproportionate to his known source of income, simultaneous raids were conducted at the office and properties of the DFO on Sunday and Monday, the officials said. The raids were conducted at seven places in Angul, Keonjhar and Nayagarh districts by three deputy superintendents of police, 10 inspectors and other supporting staff on the strength of search warrants issued by Special Judge, Vigilance, Keonjhar.

During the search operations, the Vigilance sleuths have found 115 plots in the possession of the DFO, an Odisha Forest Service (OFS) officer, and his family members. “Out of the 115 plots, 53 are registered in the name of the forest officer, 42 recorded in the name of his spouse, 16 others in the names of his two sons and four in the name of his daughter,” an anti-corruption department officer said.

Besides, one multi-storeyed building and a farmhouse in Angul district were also detected by the department, he said. The Vigilance officials also detected 200 grams of gold, Rs 10.25 lakh in cash, deposits over Rs 50.38 lakh and two four-wheelers during the raids.

“This is the highest number of plots, in the possession of a government employee, detected by the Odisha Vigilance till now,” a Vigilance officer said. The second highest of 105 plots, detected earlier, was in the possession of a Chief Construction Engineer, Anandapur Barrage Project, Salapada, Keonjhar, the officer added.