Bhubaneswar: Vigilance sleuths have unearthed lavish lifestyle and massive wealth accumulated by 1987 batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Abhay Kant Pathak, said an official on Thursday.
The raids that started on Wednesday are still underway, the official said.
They raided the office and residences of Pathak at several places in Odisha, Mumbai, Pune in Maharashtra, Bihar and at Udaipur in Rajasthan on charges of amassing property disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Pathak is currently serving as the Additional PCCF, Plan, Programme and Afforestation in Odisha.
On the strength of search warrants issued by a Vigilance court, various teams of Vigilance carried out the raids.
During the course of house search and subsequent enquiry, till now, it has been ascertained that cash deposits of about Rs 9.4 crore have been made in the bank accounts of his son Akash, out of which about Rs 8.4 crore have been deposited at Bhubaneswar, said the official.
Cash of about Rs 60 lakh has been found. Besides, costly household articles and gold ornaments weighing 800 grams have been found during the search.
Further documents relating to purchase of gold ornaments worth Rs 23 lakh have also been found.
Costly vehicles like Mercedes, BMW and Tata Harrier and three costly Yamaha FZ5 motorcycles have been found registered in the name of his son, who has also been hiring costly vehicles on rent, the official said.
At the time of search at Pune, three vehicles including two Mercedes were found to have been taken on hire by him. So far, vehicle hiring charges to the tune of Rs 25 lakh approximately has been ascertained.
Similarly, more than Rs.1 crore has been paid towards house rent of the luxury flats and the farmhouse.
Hotel bills of more than 90 lakhs at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai and advance booking amount of Rs.20 lakh at Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur in Rajasthan have also been paid.
The foreign travel details of tours to Malaysia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Maldives etc. have been obtained, the official said.
Charter flight bills worth nearly Rs 3 crores involving travel from and to cities like Pune, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Juhu, Mumbai, Jamshedpur, Delhi etc. have also been ascertained.
Moreover, Pathak’s son Akash was allegedly cheating people of money, promising to get them jobs at TATA Motors by falsely claiming to be an MD at TATA Motors.
Update:
After Vigilance raid here are the latest findings in the IFS officer Abhay Pathak case:
(1) 9.5 crore cash deposits made in the bank account of IFS officer Abhay K Pathak’s son Akash Pathak.
(2) Charter flight bills worth Rs. 3 crore
(3) Rs. 90-lakh bill at Mumbai Taj Mahal Palace
(4) Two luxury flats in Pune
(5) 1 farm house in Pune taken on rent
(6) Mercedes, BMW & Tata Harrier in the name of Akash Pathak in Bhubaneswar.
Update:
(1) Vigilance has detained four people in this connection and is questioning them
(2) The interrogation continued till late last night i.e. Thursday informed vigilance sleuths.
(3) The tainted IFS officer Abhay Kanta Pathak, his son Akash Pathak, nephew Harsh Pathak and his driver are being questioned.
(4) The father-son duo might be arrested soon.
(5) The father and son might be court forwarded by afternoon added the vigilance.
Kalinga AI