Bhubaneswar, November 9: Odisha Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (OPHWC) Deputy Manager Pratap Kumar Samal threw Rs 20 lakh unaccounted cash stashed in a bag to his neighbour’s terrace in posh Nayapalli area to dodge a raid by the State Vigilance Directorate in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
Following an allegation that Samal possessed disproportionate assets (DA), Vigilance sleuths conducted simultaneous raids on the properties of Samal in different locations, including in Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak and Balaosre districts.
During the raid in Samal’s house in Nayapalli in Bhubaneswar, the officer tried to dispose his ill-gotten money and dumped Rs 20 lakh cash in his neighbour’s terrace. During the search in his house, Rs 18 lakh more cash was also seized.
The vigilance also unearthed huge immovable assets, mostly multi-storey buildings in Bhubaneswar, owned by Samal and his family members following an allegation that Samal possessed. Total 25 plots belonging to Samal and his family members have been unearthed, so far.
According to a Vigilance statement, simultaneous search operations were conducted at a 3-storey building at IRC Village in posh Nayapalli, 6-storey building located opposite Maa Bhagabati Temple, Biju Pattanaik College Chhaka in Jayadev Vihar area, single storey building over at Sarakantra in Khandagiri, flat No-202, second floor, Narendra Villa in Jayadev Vihar area, a 5-storey building in Gothapatna area here, a 4-storey building in IRC Village area in Nayapalli (all properties in Bhubaneswar), 3-storey Ananya Towers apartment at Balisahi in Bhadrak district, a temporary residence of his associate at Ananya Towers, his native house at Haripur in Balasore district, house of his relative at Haripur in Balasore and his office in Bhubaneswar to gather details of his alleged ill-gotten wealth.
Samal (53) completed his Diploma in Civil Engineering from Barapada School of Engineering in Bhadrak in 1987. He joined the OPHWC on August 14, 1988 as a Junior Engineer at Bhubaneswar head office and continued to work as an Estimator till 1994-95 before being transferred to Kendrapara and Deogarh districts.
On promotion to the rank of Deputy Manager in 2013, he worked at Rourkela, Bolangir, Keonjhar and Cuttack. He again joined the head office in Bhubaneswar in 2019.