Odisha vigilance arrests civil supplies officer on graft charge

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha vigilance department Thursday arrested a civil supplies officer (CSO) after finding undisclosed assets in his possession, an official said.

Acting on a tip-off, vigilance sleuths Wednesday conducted simultaneous raids at the office and properties of Suresh Kumar Panigrahi, CSO, Subarnapur in 11 places in Khurda (Bhubaneswar), Bolangir, Sonepur, and Bargarh districts, the vigilance department said in a statement.

During the raid, assets including two buildings, a farmhouse spread over four acres of land, 19 plots, deposits over Rs 1.72 crore and Rs 1.49 lakh in cash were found, it said.

When asked about the source of accumulating the properties, he could not give any satisfactory explanation, the statement said.

Following the raid, the anti-corruption wing of the Odisha government registered a case against Panigrahi and arrested him Thursday, it added.