Bhubaneswar: A senior officer of the Odisha’s government’s forest department was arrested Friday in a corruption case, officials said.
Divisional Forest Officer of Rayagada Bijaya Kumar Parida was arrested by the vigilance department after assets worth crores of rupees were found after searches in his house and office, they said.
“After a thorough search, the income, expenditure and assets of Parida were calculated, and he was found in possession of disproportionate assets which were 206 per cent in excess of his known sources of income,” an official said.
Among the assets found were a three-storeyed under-construction building in Cuttack, a three-storeyed building at Palasuni in Bhubaneswar, a flat at Patia in Bhubaneswar, 17 plots of land in prime locations of Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack and Jajpur. Also, cash, jewellery and other items were found, officials said.
A case was registered against Parida and his wife under different sections of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, they said.
PTI