INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
BHUBANESWAR: To save their ill-gotten money, a government officer's family stuffed cash in cardboard boxes and threw the cartons on a
neighbour's terrace when vigilance sleuths came knocking at their door in Bhubaneswar on Friday.The desperate bid, however, did not pay off
as some alert officers noticed it and seized the cash, amounting to Rs 2 crore.The drama unfolded when the vigilance department team raided
the house of Odisha Administrative Service officer Prasanta Kumar Rout in Bhubaneswar
Rout was in Nabarangpur, where he is currently posted as additional sub-collector, at that time.The raids took place at both Bhubaneswar and
Nabarangpur and a total of Rs 2.91 crore in cash was seized from the two houses."As is our drill, we surrounded his house in Bhubaneswar
while another team raided his house in Nabarangpur
His family members in Bhubaneswar did not open the door immediately despite being informed about the court order regarding the raid, as they
just wanted to buy time to dispose of the cash," a vigilance officer said."We saw them throwing some cartons on their neighbour's terrace
and rushed there to find bank notes stashed in the boxes
There were six boxes containing Rs 2.03 crore in cash, all in Rs 500 notes," the officer added.Rout's family members later opened the door
and during its search of the house, the team found documents related to several immovable properties and passbooks of bank deposits
During the search operation in Nabarangpur, the sleuths seized around Rs 89 lakh in cash
The searches were on till evening to unearth Rout's disproportionate assets.The vigilance department suspects Prasanta KumarRout amassed the
huge amount by misappropriating government funds and taking undue benefits by abusing his power.Rout, who joined government service in July
1996, had been arrested by the vigilance department on November 6, 2018, for accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh during his tenure as a block
development officer in Sundargarh district.
