Vigilance unearths huge assets from mining officer

Bhubaneswar/Angul: Odisha Vigilance officials on Monday unearthed huge assets from a Deputy Director of Mines during raids conducted at various places in the State.

Vigilance sources said based on allegations of possession of disproportionate assets by Dharanidhar Nayak, Deputy Director of Mines of Talcher, simultaneous house searches were carried out by the sleuths. A team, led by 10 DSPs, 16 inspectors, seven SIs & ASIs conducted the raids under search warrants issued by the Special Judge, Vigilance, Angul, at eight locations in Bhubaneswar, Keonjhar and Angul districts.

During the search, two multi-storied buildings, a 3-BHK flat worth approximately Rs 1.30 crore, a duplex in Bhubaneswar, two market complexes with 19 shops, nine plots and cash amounting to over Rs 9.83 lakh were uncovered.

The measurement, valuation and assessment of the buildings, market complexes, duplex and plots are being carried out by the Vigilance Technical Wing and the searches are going on. Vigilance sources said Nayak had taken a loan of Rs 75 lakh in 2022, which he repaid in two years, allegedly using ill-gotten money. This is being verified.

The Vigilance team is also assessing bank, insurance and postal deposits along with other investments. Nayak joined government service in 2014 and was initially posted as a mining officer in Koraput. After about seven years, he was transferred from Koraput and posted at Tacher as a mining officer in 2021. He was promoted to the rank of Deputy Director of Mines in 2022 and continues in that position.