BHUBANESWAR: Vigilance sleuths on Tuesday raided the property of an officer of Commercial Taxes Department posted in Jajpur district following allegations of amassing property beyond his known sources of income.
The anti-corruption officials recovered cash, gold and documents of immovable and movable assets worth Rs 2.12 crore from the residential and office premises of the taxman, Kailash Chandra Sethy. Similar raids were conducted at two other places in Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur.
Sethy, a native of Khusaliram Patna in Jagatsinghpur district, is posted as an Assistant Commercial Tax Officer (ACTO) at Jajpur Town. The raids were conducted on the basis of a report filed by State Vigilance Cell.Sethy and his family members own at least 14 plots at Bhubaneswar, Jaripada, Belda, Khurda and Jagatpur. The cost of two multi-storey buildings at Kaibalya Vihar in Cuttack has been estimated at Rs 38.14 lakh and Rs 81.72 lakh.
A flat in his relative’s name at Khsetrapal in Bhubaneswar and his paternal house at Khusaliram Patna have been valued at Rs 11.6 lakh and Rs 8.37 lakh respectively. Bank deposits, insurance policies and mutual fund investments were calculated to be around Rs 52 lakh and cash and gold estimated at Rs 6.2 lakh.
Junior engineer in vigilance net
A junior engineer was arrested by the Vigilance sleuths while receiving Rs 2,500 bribe from a contractor on Tuesday. The accused, Basant Kumar Sahu is posted in Dharamsala block of Jajpur district.
Sources said Sahu had demanded the money from one Sampad Kumar Bala, a contractor working with Panchayati Raj Department, for clearing the bills of a construction work executed by the complainant at Jharagadia Market Complex in Dharamsala.
When Bala submitted relevant documents and bills, Sahu demanded illegal gratification for releasing the money. Bala reported the matter to anti-corruption wing following which a trap was laid and Sahu was arrested from his Government quarters.
Sahu has been booked under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and produced in court which remanded him in judicial custody, said Vigilance SP Sudha Singh.