Odisha: Raid on Sunabeda Municipality Assistant Engineer’s property continues, more cash & gold seized

Koraput: On the second day of searches against Manoj Kumar Patra, Assistant Engineer, Sunabeda Municipality in Koraput district, the bank locker in Union Bank, Pokhariput Branch, Bhubaneswar was searched by the officers of Odisha Vigilance in presence of the Patra, AE and witnesses.

During the search, further huge cash, gold & silver jewellery stashed in the locker were recovered and seized. With this, the total seizures reached Rs 28.61 lakh in cash, gold 369.10 gms and silver 288.51 gms. All these have been seized by Vigilance Authorities.

On the allegation of possession of assets disproportionate to the known sources of income, simultaneous house searches were launched on the properties of Manoj Kumar Patra, Asst. Engineer, Sunabeda Municipality 18-19.02.2022 at 6 places in Khurda, Gajapati, Ganjam and Koraput district i.e;

• Residential flat No.102, Block A-2, 1st Floor Kokila Palace (Phase-1) Apartment, Pokhariput, Bhubaneswar.
• Double storeyed building at Plot No.900, Shakti Nagar, 4th Lane, Berhampur.
• House at native place located at B.Sitapur, Paralakhemundi.
• Residential building of relative at Chandraprabha Street 2nd Lane, Berhampur.
• Residential quarter at Sunabeda Municipality Colony, Sunabeda.
• Office chamber at Municipality office, Sunabeda.

6 teams of Odisha Vigilance led by 5 DSsP, 8 Inspectors and other staff conducted the search on the strength of Search Warrants issued by the Hon’ble Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Jeypore.

During house searches so far, the following assets worth Crores have been unearthed in the name of Manoj Kumar Patra, AE and his spouse;

• Cash total Rs 28.61 Lakh.
• Gold jewellery approx 369.10 gms and Silver jewellery approx 288.51 gms worth over Rs 11.44 Lakh.
• One 3 BHK flat at Pokhariput, Bhubaneswar worth about Rs 80 lakh.
• Double storeyed building at Berhampur worth about Rs 50.57 lakh as per preliminary estimate. Vigilance Technical Wing to carry out detailed measurements and valuation may increase further.
• 7 numbers of plots including one plot at Bhubaneswar and 3 plots each in Berhampur and Koraput. Undervaluation is suspected during registration. Vigilance Technical Wing to carry out detailed measurements and valuations.
• Fixed deposits, Bank, Insurance and Postal deposits over Rs 40 lakh.
• Household articles worth over Rs 16.59 Lakh.
• One Hyundai Venue car worth Rs 12.88 lakh.
• 2 two-wheelers (Honda Unicorn worth Rs 1,10,000/- & TVS Jupiter worth Rs 59,500/-).

The unearthing of more assets is likely and overall valuation is likely to increase. Enquiry is in progress.