Odisha Vigilance cracks down on 134 Class-I officers in 2.5 yrs; details here

Bhubaneswar, Oct 28: Odisha Vigilance has apprehended 134 Class-I officers over the past two-and-a-half years as part of its crackdown on corruption in the state. The findings also reveal extensive assets allegedly accumulated by government officials, including 25 farmhouses, 353 buildings, 1,471 expensive plots and nearly 40 kg of gold ornaments.Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi shared the figures during a state-level Vigilance Awareness Week programme on Tuesday, highlighting the action taken against corrupt officials.During the period, the Vigilance Department registered 516 criminal cases and arrested 537 people. These included 140 disproportionate assets cases and 232 bribery cases.Among the 134 Class-I officers apprehended were an IAS officer, eight chief engineers, two Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs), a Sub-Collector, three Deputy Directors of Mines, three Assistant Commissioners of CT-GST, three Excise Commissioners, two Deputy Directors, five tehsildars and four Block Development Officers (BDOs), along with officials from other departments.The department also apprehended 87 engineers, 64 revenue employees, 45 Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department employees, 11 doctors, 34 police personnel and a traffic inspector.In the 232 bribery cases registered during the period, Vigilance arrested 271 people, including one Class-I officer and 38 Class-II officers.The investigation into alleged corruption and disproportionate assets has uncovered significant property holdings linked to government officials.Among the properties identified, Dayanidhi Bag, Joint Director of the Soil Conservation and Watershed Development Department, reportedly owns two large farmhouses valued at more than Rs 1.5 crore.An Executive Engineer of the Works Department was found to have two sprawling farmhouses spread across 14 acres. Jagannath Patnaik, an Executive Engineer of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), also reportedly owns a large farmhouse in Balipatna on the outskirts of the capital.Overall, Vigilance has detected 25 farmhouses and 353 buildings during the two-and-a-half-year period. The buildings include luxury bungalows, multi-storey houses and apartments.The department also detected 1,471 expensive plots allegedly acquired by government officials using illicit funds.Officials reportedly accumulated nearly 40 kg of gold jewellery for their wives and children. In addition, approximately Rs 72.43 crore was found deposited in bank accounts linked to the officials under investigation.The figures highlight the scale of the state’s anti-corruption drive and the assets uncovered during investigations into alleged corruption among public servants.