BHUBANESWAR/ATHAGARH:In a massive crackdown on Wednesday, the State Vigilance unearthed assets to the tune of a whopping Rs 6 crore from the possession of Athagarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO).
During a raid at the Cuttack residence of Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra, a 1987 batch OFS officer, the anti-corruption wing found at least Rs 1.01 crore in cash. Simultaneous search was conducted at his office, paternal houses in Sonepur and Sambalpur as well as other property that Mishra possessed.
When his savings bank and postal accounts were checked, the sleuths came across another Rs 93.23 lakh. That was not all. The fixed deposits in post offices, Sahara India and banks totalled a huge Rs 2.61 crore.
Apart from insurance premium deposits of Rs 19.13 lakh, the Vigilance also found 550 grams gold ornaments and household articles. The total value of the movable assets was estimated at Rs 4.80 crore.
Director-General, Vigilance, Dr R P Sharma, said more than 10 teams conducted the search during which the sleuths found that Mishra and his spouse had in their names at least six plots and four buildings at different parts of the State.
While the six plots were estimated at about Rs 22 lakh, the couple had two houses in Bhubaneswar and one each in Puri and Bhawanipatna, whose combined value was about Rs 90 lakh. Mishra, who had served in various divisions as ACF, was promoted as DFO in 2007 and posted in Angul and Berhampur. He was transferred to Athagarh about four months back.
The Vigilance DG said investigation into the source of the wealth is being carried out. He, however, rubbished reports that Vigilance has found any link of the DFO with the notorious Dhal Samanta brothers.