OPHWC deputy manager's asset Rs 14.87 crore, 1000% more than known sources of income

BHUBANESWAR: In one of the highest disproportionate assets unearthed in the State, the Vigilance Directorate has traced illegal movable and immovable property amounting to over Rs 14.87 crore accumulated by Pratap Kumar Samal, a deputy manager ranked officer of Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (OPHWC), a state PSU.

Pratap's residential and office premises had come under raid by the anti-corruption bureau on Tuesday. He was formally arrested on Wednesday.

During the investigation, the Vigilance officers traced more than Rs 1.61 crore in the bank accounts of Pratap and his family members. The officers have frozen the bank accounts of the accused.

Vigilance officers said the relative standard deviation value of Pratap's 25 plots including their registration and stamp duty is more than Rs 3.41 crore. The market value of his five-storeyed building at Gothapatna in the City is over Rs 3.89 crore.

"Searches at the property of Pratap were completed in the wee hours of Wednesday. So far, the disproportionate assets traced are 1,021 per cent of his known sources of income. He could not explain about the huge amount of assets satisfactorily for which he was arrested," said Vigilance Director YK Jethwa. Valuation of his other buildings is being carried out by the agency's technical wing and further probe is on, he added.

Vigilance officers have also ascertained that Pratap has paid Rs 57.72 lakh towards the premium of insurance policies.

The officer had completed his diploma in civil engineering in Bhadrak in 1987 and he had joined OPHWC on August 14, 1988, as a junior engineer in Bhubaneswar head office. He continued as an estimator till 1994-1995.

On being promoted to the rank of deputy manager in 2013, Pratap worked in Rourkela, Balangir, Keonjhar and Cuttack. In 2019, Pratap joined as a deputy manager in the Bhubaneswar office.

The anti-corruption agency on Wednesday registered a case against Pratap and his wife Sasmita under Sections 12, 13(1)(b) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In 2020, disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 9.35 crore was traced to IFS officer Abhay Kant Pathak.