Vigilance unearths assets worth crores from official

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Friday unearthed movable and immovable assets worth crores during simultaneous searches at premises linked to a senior official of the State’s Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment department over allegations of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

“On Friday, on the allegation of possession of disproportionate assets (DA) by Prasanna Kumar Patra, Deputy Director, Soil Conservation-cum-Project Director, Watershed, Sundaragada district, beyond his known sources of income, simultaneous house searches are being conducted by Odisha Vigilance,” the agency said in a statement. As many as eight teams of Odisha Vigilance, led by one Additional Superintendent of Police, four Deputy Superintendents of Police, 13 Inspectors, five Assistant Sub-Inspectors and other supporting staff, carried out searches on the strength of warrants issued by the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Sundaragada, at eight locations linked to Patra in Bhubaneswar, Sundaragada and Kataka districts. During the searches, Vigilance officials found Patra and his family members in possession of four double-storeyed buildings, a 3-BHK flat in Bhubaneswar and seven high-value plots on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

Although the registered sale deed value of the plots is about Rs 1 crore, the agency suspects that their market value is likely to be much higher. The measurement, valuation and assessment of the buildings, flats and plots are being carried out by the Vigilance Technical Wing.

Apart from these assets, officials also found gold weighing 212 gm, cash worth around Rs 1.30 lakh, deposits of around Rs 1.46 crore, three two-wheelers and household articles worth Rs 7.72 lakh.

The Vigilance officials also found that Patra had paid an advance of Rs 29.50 lakh to a realtor for purchasing a flat in Bhubaneswar. Odisha Vigilance officials expect to unearth more assets as the searches are still underway. Patra joined government service on December 19, 1995, as a Junior Soil Conservation Officer in the office of the Director, Soil Conservation, Bhubaneswar.

In 2024, he was promoted to the rank of Deputy Director, Soil Conservation, and posted to Kandhamala, where he served from August 2024 to April 2025.

Since April 2025, he has been serving as Deputy Director, Soil Conservation, in the office of the Project Director, Watershed, Sundaragada.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Hans India