Jaleswar BDO’s new appointment cancelled as Vigilance unearths his assets worth over Rs 5.7 Cr

Bhubaneswar: Hours after the officials of Odisha Vigilance Department unearthed Jaleswar BDO Aswini Kumar Das’ assets worth over Rs 5.7 Crore, the State government cancelled his new appointment.

The Revenue And Disaster Management Department in a notification informed that Aswini Kumar Das was appointed as the Tehsildar of Jatni. However, it has been cancelled and Khurda BDO Rumana Jafri was transferred and posted as Jatni Tehsildar.

It is to be noted here that the anti-corruption team conducted simultaneous searches of house belong to Aswini Kumar Das in three districts of the state today.

During house searches so far, the following movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 5.07 Crores as detailed below have been unearthed in the name of Ashwini Kumar Das, BDO, Jaleswar and his family members;

• 24 Plots in prime area of Cuttack & Kendrapara district. The Registered Sale Deed (RSD) value comes to about Rs.76.4 Lakh. However, the actual value is likely to be much higher. Undervaluation of the plots during registration is suspected. A thorough probe has been initiated in this regard.
• Triple-storeyed building at Kalapada, 42 Mouza, Cuttack along with brick factory worth over Rs.1.22 Crore. Detailed valuation is being carried out by Vigilance Technical Wing.
• Double storeyed building at Jhinkiria, Berhampur, Cuttack worth over Rs.1.10 Crore. Detailed valuation is being carried out by Vigilance Technical Wing.
• Bank & Insurance deposits worth over Rs.73.91 Lakh.
• Cash Rs 1,70,300.
• Gold jewelry weighing 1.028 Kg & Silver ornaments 3.632 Kg worth over Rs.42.57 Lakh.
• 4 four-wheelers (Innova, Scorpio, MG Hector & Nano) worth over Rs.40 Lakh.
• 3 two-wheelers & household articles worth over Rs.39.81 Lakh.

Ashwini Kumar Das entered into service as Junior Assistant in Agriculture Department in 1995. He was promoted to the ORS in 2015 and was posted as Additional Tahasildar, Kutra (Sundargarh), Additional Tahasildar, Niali (Cuttack), Sub-Registrar, Raghunathpur (Jagatsinghpur), Sub-Registrar, Dolipur (Jajpur) and Sub-Registrar, Jatani (Khurdha). He was promoted to OAS in 2020 and was posted as Tahaslidar, Tangi, BDO, Kendrapara and BDO, Jaleswar (Balasore).

He is being examined to ascertain source of the assets. Further searches are continuing. Unearthing of more assets is likely and overall valuation is likely to increase.

Further enquiry is in progress.