BHUBANESWAR: Demonetised notes of Rs 500 denomination amounting to Rs 35,000 have been recovered from the possession of Assistant executive engineer of Ranpur Rural Development division Rusinath Baral. He was arrested by Vigilance on Friday for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 2.7 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016 and Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes ceased to be legal tender.
Vigilance officers suspect that banned Rs 500 banknotes recovered from Baral might be a chunk of the ill-gotten money that he failed to exchange.
On receiving corruption allegations against Baral, Vigilance officers carried out simultaneous searches at his property in four places in Khurda, Nayagarh and Dhenkanal districts on Thursday. Baral’s disproportionate assets constitute 397 per cent of his known sources of income. Cuttack Vigilance registered a case against Baral and his wife.