Deputy Collector arrested for amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of 191%

Bhubaneswar/Jagatsinghpur: Following simultaneous raids, Odisha Vigilance arrested Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) Chitta Ranjan Pilla today, who is presently working in Jagatsinghpur collectorate, for accumulating assets disproportionate to his legal sources of income to the tune of 191 per cent.

Properties associated with the Deputy Collector include: five flats, two double-storey buildings, 11 plots, bank and insurance deposits worth around Rs 48.71 lakh and cash of Rs 1.85 lakh.

Pilla will be forwarded to the Court of Special Vigilance Judge, Bhubaneswar later in the day.

A Vigilance source said that Pilla could not satisfactorily account for the assets that he has amassed, hence was arrested. Bhubaneswar Vigilance PS case No-45, dated 28.12.2022 has been registered in this connection against the Deputy Collector and his wife under Section 13(2) written with 13(1)(b)/12 of the PC Act, 1988 as amended by PC (Amendment) Act, 2018.

During house searches, the following movable and immovable assets were unearthed in the name Pilla including a Flat No-207, Block-3(B), 2nd floor, Space Town Apartment at Gadakana-25, PS-Mancheswar, a Flat No-202 located at Sai Anumadana Re, in Nuagaon, Chandaka, PS Bharatpur, a Flat No-101 at Harshapriya Enclave (Saraswati) in Rangamatia, Mancheswar, a Flat No-101, Type-A, Block-IV, 1st floor, at Sunahat and another Flat No-103, Type-A, Block-IV, 1st floor at Sunahat, both of Balasore district, a two-storey building at Sonepur town, Unit-1 tehsil of Subarnapur district, a two-storey building at Naighati, Pratappur, PS Baliapal of Balasore, 11 numbers of plots including a plot in the prime area of Bhubaneswar, 10 plots in Birmaharajpur, Sonepur and Baliapal and Narayanpur of Balasore, cash of Rs 1,85,285, bank and insurance deposits and investment in Mutual Funds worth around Rs 48.71 lakh, two four-wheelers worth Rs 11.40 lakh, three two-wheelers worth Rs 3.24 lakh, several gold ornaments and household articles worth over Rs 13.64 lakh, a press release issued by the Vigilance read.

A detailed probe of the case is underway and exact valuation of the Deputy Collector’s properties seized will be calculated by a Technical Committee of the Vigilance, a senior official expressed.

It is pertinent to mention, Pilla joined in government service as a junior clerk on February 10, 1993 and served at Patnagarh tehsil of Bolangir, Ranpur tehsil of Nayagarh and DRDA, Subarnapur.

In 2006, Pilla got promotion to the rank of senior clerk and served in various posts at Sonepur. In September 2018 he was selected to ORS and joined as Assistant Collector at Boudh and continued till 2019. In October 2019, he joined as Additional Tehsildar, Bhubaneswar. Recently, on 19.10.2022, he was selected to OAS and had joined in the Office of District Collector, Jagatsinghpur.