BHUBANESWAR: A Vigilance raid on joint director in the directorate of Soil Conservation and Watershed Development, Dayanidhi Bagh, over allegations of amassing disproportionate assets (DA) has revealed that he was in possession of a whopping 84 acre of land and buildings worth crores.
Vigilance officials said this is the first time they unearthed such a large land area in the name of a government official and his family members.
Bagh was earlier posted as the project director of the watershed wing in Rayagada district. In May, the anti-corruption agency had arrested four officials of the watershed wing in Rayagada for allegedly misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. He was since under the scanner of Vigilance and recently posted in the Soil Conservation directorate in Bhubaneswar.
During searches on Monday, Bagh was found in possession of a farmhouse on over 40 acre of land with drip irrigation facility and agricultural equipment worth Rs 1 crore in Bijaraguda, another farmhouse over 6 acre land amounting to Rs 46.12 lakh at Phatakote, a 27 acre land in Nabarangpur and 11 acre on the outskirts of Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district.
Bagh and his family members also own a 3BHK flat measuring 1,450 sq ft at Gothapatna area in the capital city, one building in Chandrasekharpur Housing Board Colony here, an under-construction building spread over 3,000 sq ft and a shopping complex consisting of five shops in Nabarangpur town. Besides, Vigilance traced Bagh’s bank deposits amounting to Rs 58.41 lakh, gold ornaments weighing 312 gm and household articles worth Rs 9 lakh.
Earlier in the day, the anti-corruption agency carried out searches at eight places linked to him. Searches were carried out at Bagh’s office chamber here, house in Junagarh, house of his in-laws in Dharamgarh, flat in Gothapatna, house in Chandrasekharpur, under-construction building in Nabarangpur town and two buildings registered in his wife’s name at Chutiaguda mouza in Nabarangpur.
Sources said, the government had sanctioned around Rs 3 crore under the MGNREGS for excavating farm ponds in Kashipur block of the district in 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years. However, the Vigilance received complaints that the officials, including the four who were arrested in May, misappropriated the funds without digging the farm ponds, and embezzled the money.