Bhubaneswar, February 25 – Vigilance officials arrested a wealthy mining officer on Wednesday after recovering a record sum of over Rs 4.27 crore from his rented accommodation during simultaneous searches at multiple locations linked to the official.
The accused, Debabrata Mohanty, Deputy Director of Mines, Cuttack Circle, was arrested by the Odisha Vigilance and produced before the Special Judge, Vigilance, in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
Mohanty was apprehended on Tuesday night for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a licensed coal vendor to allow the smooth operation of his coal depot and to grant permission for transporting coal.
In this connection, a case (1/26) has been registered against Mohanty at the Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
According to reports, acting on the complaint of the businessman, vigilance officials laid a trap and caught Mohanty red-handed while accepting a bribe from the complainant on Tuesday evening.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches were conducted on Mohanty's rented residential flat at Shree Vihar, Patia, Bhubaneswar, his parental house at Mathasahi, Bhadrak, and his office chamber at Cuttack.
During the searches, cash amounting to Rs 4,27,13,600 concealed in trolley bags and in almirahs was recovered from his rented residential flat in Bhubaneswar and seized. In addition, cash amounting to Rs 1.20 lakh was also recovered from his office table drawer and his possession and seized. The police also recovered gold jewellery weighing 305.40 grams and silver ornaments weighing 600 grams during the search.
A senior vigilance official revealed on Wednesday that a vigilance case registered against the accused, Debabrata Mohanty, in 2009 is still pending trial at the Vigilance Court in Baripada.
Notably, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on Monday, told the State Assembly that the Vigilance Department has registered a total of 416 cases against government officers and employees in the state for taking bribes, committing financial irregularities in government funds, and possessing disproportionate assets between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025.
