The additional sub-collector of Nawarangpur district, Prasanta Kumar Rout, has been arrested by the vigilance wing of the Odisha Police for allegedly having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Rout was arrested on Saturday and subsequently sent to jail after his bail application was rejected by a court in Sundergarh district. The Vigilance Department stated that he was in possession of disproportionate assets worth Rs 5,21,09,659, which is 506% more than his known sources of income.
A case has been registered against Rout and his wife under different sections of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. During house searches, vigilance sleuths found in his name a double-storied building in Bhubaneswar, several plots in prime locations of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, and one benami plot at Umarkote in Nawarangpur district. Further, a total cash of Rs 3,02,30,800 and bank and insurance deposits over Rs 92.34 lakh, gold and silver jewellery, and household articles worth over Rs 27.27 lakh were also recovered.
Investigation of the case is in progress, the statement added. Rout was also arrested in a corruption case in 2018 when he was BDO in Sundergarh district. Meanwhile, Rout’s arrest on Saturday sparked a spat between the ruling BJD and opposition BJP, after a purported photograph of the accused OAS officer along with a close aide of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik went viral on social media.
Senior BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, addressing a party rally in Talcher on Saturday, alleged that the accused was getting patronage from the third floor (the CM’s office). Reacting to his remarks, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, It is unfortunate that Pradhan, despite being aware of the zero-tolerance policy of the Odisha government, is still making such statements. Patra said over the past three years, 180 officers have been sent on compulsory retirement, dismissed from service or their pensions withheld after being found to have indulged in corruption.
