Rs 70 lakh were deposited in accounts of arrested Odisha IAS officer: Vigilance

Bhubaneswar: A total of Rs 70 lakh was deposited in the three bank accounts of arrested IAS officer Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya in between 2012 and 2019, said Vigilance sources. The amount was deposited in Bijay Ketan’s accounts at the bank counter and through cash deposit machine.

Vigilance also found that Rs 22 lakh were deposited Bijay Ketan’s bank accounts during his tenure as Horticulture Director. After examining the IAS officer’s bank account details, the sleuths came to know that money was credited to his accounts more than once in a day on different occasions.

Sources said Vigilance is probing Bijay Ketan’s investments in share market and mutual funds.

Bijay Ketan was arrested on December 30 on charges of accepting Rs 1 lakh bribe from an empanelled sprinkler irrigations systems supplier under Directorate of Horticulture to approve the payment.

The bureaucrat was arrested from his office soon after Santosh Kumar Pattnayak, the relationship manager of Bapuji Nagar branch of YES Bank, was apprehended in front of his office while accepting the bribe from the supplier.

At present Bijay Ketan is lodged in Jharpada jail in Bhubaneswar. The Special Vigilance Court is yet to pronounce its order on a bail plea moved by him. Following his arrest, Bijay Ketan was taken on a five-day Vigilance remand.

The State government has already suspended the IAS officer from duty after he was arrested.