Odisha vigilance department nabs tehsildar with Rs 4.65 lakh cash, five PAN cards in his name

BHUBANESWAR: In an astounding revelation, a serving tehsildar of the State government has been found to be in possession of five PAN cards in his name. The same came to light during a raid by Vigilance officials on Ramachandra Jena, the tehsildar and sub-registrar in-charge of Nimapara on Tuesday.

During the search of Jena's official residence, the officials found five PAN cards in his name with different numbers and dates of birth. He had given three different father's name for the cards. Three cards carried his father's name as Khageswar Jena while two others had Baishnab Jena and Narayan Jena respectively. All five PAN cards of the accused tehsildar have different dates of birth between 1970 and 1972.

Jena was arrested by the Vigilance with unaccounted cash of Rs 4.65 lakh. His brother Laxman, a former driver with Mo Bus service, was also arrested for being an alleged accomplice in Jena's corruption. Acting on an intel, a team of the anti-corruption wing intercepted Jena near his official residence in Nimapara at 5 am on Tuesday.

He was found to be carrying Rs 4.65 lakh in cash. As Jena reportedly failed to give a satisfactory reply on the source of the money, searches were carried out at his residence in CDA Sector-11, Cuttack, his native Dhanmandal and Garadpur in Kendrapara district.

Apart from the five PAN cards, the sleuths also found Rs 50,000 from his official residence. As a part of the investigation, vigilance officials also grilled Jena's younger brother Laxman who told that he had come to Nimapara on Tuesday after receiving a call from his brother to collect Rs 4.5 lakh from him early in the morning.

He also admitted to have visited Nimapara thrice in September this year to collect Rs 10 lakh from his brother. He had reportedly deposited the money in his ICICI bank account in installments.

A case has been registered against the tehsildar and his brother and both will be forwarded to the court. Calculation of his movable and immovable assets is still in progress. Additionally, income tax authorities have been roped in to inquire into the transactions of both the accused. Jena's case is a clear instance of how tainted officers take advantage of the loopholes in the system to engage in corruption.

Even after being entangled in two cases related to illegal land settlement and conversion of agricultural land, the Revenue and Disaster Management department allowed him to continue as Nimapara tehsildar with additional charge of sub-registrar.

As per the State Vigilance, Jena already has a case pending trial since 2016 in connection with illegal settlement of valuable land and issuing patta in 2011. Another case has been registered against him in 2018 over illegal conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land.