Bhubaneswar: A few hours after the state Vigilance arrested Odisha cadre IFS officer, Abhay Kant Pathak and his son Akash, the state government Friday placed the senior officer under suspension.
On the other hand, the father-son duo was sent to judicial custody till December 9.
The sleuths during one of the biggest raids involving around 150 officers found Pathak possessing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 9.35 crore.
Meanwhile, the Vigilance directorate in press note revealed that a 20-member SIT team has been formed to thoroughly investigate the various facets of the case. The Vigilance team has been questioning the bank officials regarding the huge cash transactions carried out by the father-son duo during the last couple of years. They are also trying to find out Pathak and his son’s investments in mutual funds, various market instruments and benami properties. The travel agencies involved in the booking of chartered flight tickets are being questioned too.
Speaking to media persons, Vigilance SP Radhakrishnan rubbished Pathak’s claims regarding his son getting a monthly salary of Rs 1 crore. He said that he failed to produce any documents like salary slip, income tax returns in support of his claims.
The Vigilance SP said that Pathak’s total properties are around 435 per cent of his known sources of income.
Meanwhile, sources also claimed that the Enforcement Directorate officials are likely to probe the source of huge money transactions made by the Pathak and his son.
Notably, Pathak had paid Rs 3 crore towards booking of chartered planes for travelling to cities like Mumbai, Patna and Delhi. The Vigilance officials also seized gold ornaments weighing around 800 grams worth Rs 23 lakh, Rs 60 lakh cash from his house.
The sleuths also found possession of three luxury cars like Mercedes, BMW and Tata Harier along with three Yamaha FZs which were registered in his son’s name.
Similarly, in Pune, his son was allegedly using three luxury cars including two Mercedes on hiring basis. He had paid Rs 25 lakh as hiring charges for the costly vehicles.