Odisha Forest Officer Suspended After Arrest In Disproportionate Asset Case

The Odisha government on Friday placed a senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer under suspension hours after he was sent to jail following his arrest by the anti-corruption vigilance in a disproportionate asset case, official sources said. Abhay Kant Pathak, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Plan, Program & Afforestation, was arrested along with his son Akash Kumar Pathak in connection with the case. The court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar remanded them to judicial custody till December 9. According to some media reports, the father-son duo had also chartered planes during the lockdown.

The 1987 batch IFS officer was found in possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 9.35 crore beyond his known sources of income. This amount was about 435 per cent of the total income from all his known sources, an official statement said.

Since huge cash deposits have been made in private banks through deposit slips and ATM counters and high-value transactions have been made in the accounts by the father-son duo, details of operations of the banks concerned in this regard are being probed, it said.

Details of their income tax returns, investments in shares, mutual funds and other market instruments are also being ascertained.

Before arresting the officer and his son, vigilance sleuths had made simultaneous searches at five places in Bhubaneswar, seven places in Mumbai and Pune and one place in Bihar on November 25 and 26.

During the search, they found Rs 60 lakh in cash, gold ornaments weighing 800 gm and documents relating to purchase of gold jewellery worth Rs 23 lakh, the statement said.

Expensive cars and motorbikes have been found registered in the name of his son, it said.