Former Deputy Director of Mines Mohanty remanded to three-day Vigilance custody

Bhubaneswar: Following a plea by the Odisha Vigilance, a Special Vigilance Court on Thursday granted a three-day remand of arrested Debabrata Mohanty, former Deputy Director of Mines, Cuttack Circle.

The Vigilance Investigating Officer had sought a five-day remand of Mohanty. However, the court allowed custody for three days, remanding him to Vigilance till March 7, 2026 for further investigation.

A case has been registered against Mohanty at the Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station (Case No. 01/2026) under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018.

According to Vigilance sources, Mohanty will be taken to Phulbani on Friday for inventory of his rented house as part of the ongoing probe.

Notably, the Vigilance had earlier unearthed more than ₹4 crore in cash from a Bhubaneswar flat linked to Mohanty, marking the biggest cash seizure in the history of the agency.

Mohanty, who was serving as Deputy Director of Mines in the Cuttack Circle, was apprehended on February 24, 2026, while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹30,000 from a licensed coal vendor. Soon after his arrest, Vigilance teams launched simultaneous searches at three locations linked to him.

Searches were conducted at his residential flat in Shree Vihar, Patia, Bhubaneswar, his parental house at Mathasahi in Bhadrak district, and his office chamber in Cuttack.

During the raid at his Bhubaneswar flat, officials recovered cash exceeding ₹4 crore, which was found concealed inside trolley bags and almirahs.

The searches also led to the detection of other assets, including a palatial double-storeyed building measuring around 2,400 square feet at Pahala in Bhubaneswar and approximately 130 grams of gold.