Odisha Chief Engineer Flings Bundles Of Money Out Of Window, Rs 2.1 Crore Seized
Rain of money in Odisha's Bhubaneswar as more than Rs 2 crore was discovered at a government engineer's office.
Bhubaneswar:
It was raining notes in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar as a man discarded bundles of Rs 500 notes from the window of his flat. The man has been identified as a government employee of the state, Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, a Chief Engineer of State’s Rural Development Department. And, the government has recovered more than Rs 2 crore in cash from him in a case of alleged corruption and disproportionate assets. The Chief Engineer of the road department is under the scanner.
The vigilance department recovered about Rs 2.1 crore in cash through joint raids at seven places in Angul, Bhubaneswar and Pipili (Puri) in Odisha.
The seven places are:
Double-storeyed residential house at Karadagadia, Angul
Flat at Dumduma in Bhubaneswar
Another flat in Puri
House of Mr Sarangi’s relative at Sikshyakapada, Angul
Paternal house in Angul
Double-storeyed paternal building in Angul
Office chamber
In a dramatic twist, Mr Sarangi attempted to get rid of bundles of money by throwing out the window of his flat as vigilance officers turned up. The bundles were recovered later in the presence of witnesses.
Rs 1.1 crore were recovered at Mr Sarangi’s home at Angul and another Rs 1 crore from the Bhubaneswar flat.
The search was conducted after charges were made that Mr Sarangi had assets that were disproportionate to his know sources of income. The searches were conducted by a group of 26 police officers, including eight Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSPs), 12 inspectors and six assistant sub-inspector (ASIs), and other support staff.
In clips of the search operation, police officers are seen tallying stacks of money, predominantly heaps of Rs 500 notes, as well as a few heaps of Rs 200, Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes.
Counting of the cash is still in progress.
