Odisha: Vigilance raids houses of Forest ranger in Ganjam, Rs 5 Lakh cash seized so far

Digapahandi: Separate teams of Odisha Vigilance sleuths today carried out simultaneous raids at three different places associated with a forest ranger working in Ganjam district.

Based on reliable input, the territorial forest range officer of Digapahandi identified as Kanhu Charan Pattnaik was intercepted by a Vigilance team at Ganianala Chhak late yesterday night when he was on his way to Berhampur town from Digapahandi in his car.

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According to a senior official in the team, cash of Rs 1.5 lakh (suspected to be ill-gotten) was found in his possession. As Pattnaik could not account for the cash satisfactorily, the amount was recovered from him and later seized. “Following the interception, simultaneous house searches were conducted by six teams at locations linked to Pattnaik from disproportionate assets (DA) angle,” the official said.

During searches, further cash of approximately Rs 3.5 lakh has been recovered. In total, the seized cash comes to Rs 5 lakh so far. A detailed investigation is underway, the source added.

Notably, the raids were carried out at Pattnaik’s office in Digapahandi, his government residence and a house in Lane No-7 at Tulasi Nagar of Berhampur, which is owned by the ranger.