1.13 kg gold haul from GST officer in Odisha

Vigilance unearths 19 gold (24 carat) biscuits from two bank lockers
Image used for representational purposes only. (Express Illustrations)
Image used for representational purposes only. (Express Illustrations)

KENDRAPARA/PARADIP: Vigilance officials on Wednesday seized 19 gold biscuits weighing over one kg from two bank lockers of a GST commercial tax officer who was earlier arrested on bribery charge. 
Chittaranjan Mohanty, the CT and GST officer of the enforcement unit, Paradip, was arrested by the anti-corruption agency on March 31 while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 80,000 from a person. 

Mohanty, a resident of Garapur on the outskirts of Kendrapara town, had demanded illegal gratification to furnish the closure report of a commercial tax and GST case pending against the complainant. Vigilance sources said a case under section 7 PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 was registered against Mohanty. After his arrest, raids were conducted at his residences in Kendrapara, Cuttack and Paradip to detect disproportionate assets. Two of his lockers, one of which is owned by his wife, in Bank of Maharashtra and Punjab & Sind Bank at CDA, Cuttack were also searched.

During the search, 19 gold biscuits (24 carat) each weighing 433 gm were recovered from the two bank lockers. Based on the market price, the gold biscuits are worth around Rs 26 lakh. In total, 1.13 kg gold including 1.06 kg gold biscuits from the lockers were seized. This apart, Vigilance found Rs 5.4 lakh in cash in Mohanty’s locker in Bank of Maharashtra. 

The officials also seized `1 lakh from an almirah owned by Mohanty. Besides, bank and insurance deposits and investment in mutual funds worth over Rs 1.04 crore, one double-storey building at CDA, Cuttack worth over Rs 70 lakh, one four-wheeler worth Rs 15 lakh, a two-wheeler and household articles worth Rs 11.30 lakh were found in his possession. Mohanty has been remanded in judicial custody till April 13. Further investigation is underway. 

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