CUTTACK: Vigilance on Wednesday unearthed movable and immovable assets worth crores of rupees during a raid at the property linked to Kantapada tehsildar Prasanna Samantaray over allegations of possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
On the day, officials of the anti-corruption agency raided seven locations linked to Samantaray in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar (Khurda), Puri, and Kendrapara districts.
So far, they have unearthed two triple-storey buildings in Saheed Nagar locality and seven high-value plots in Bhubaneswar, cash amounting to over `2.15 lakh, a four-wheeler, three two-wheelers and household articles worth `8 lakh.
Vigilance officials said while Samantaray’s bank deposits and other investments are being ascertained, the assessment and valuation of the buildings and high-value plots are still underway. “Further searches are continuing and more assets are likely to be unearthed and the overall valuation is expected to increase,” they added.
The raids were undertaken by seven teams of Odisha Vigilance led by two additional SPs, eight DSPs, 11 inspectors, five ASIs and other supporting staff on the strength of search warrants issued by the Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Cuttack.
Fifty-eight-year-old Samantaray had joined government service as local fund auditor (LFA) in the year 2000 with a salary of `5,130. In 2016, he was promoted to the rank of ORS and posted as zone officer, Salandi Lift Canal Project, Soro. From 2017 to 2022, Samantaray worked as additional tehsildar at Satyabadi tehsil in Puri and Tangi-Choudwar tehsil in Cuttack.
In October 2022, he was promoted to the rank of OAS and posted as tehsildar, Remuna in Balasore. Samantaray was transferred as tehsildar, Kantapada in Cuttack district in September 2025 where he was continuing till date. He is currently being questioned regarding the source of his assets.