Odisha OAS officer Prasanta Rout back in vigilance net; cash worth over Rs 2 crore recovered

Nearly five years after he was arrested for allegedly taking Rs 1 lakh bribe, Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer Prasanta Kumar Rout has once again landed in Vigilance net for amassing disproportionate assets.

The sleuths of Odisha Vigilance on Friday raided the office, residence and other properties of Prasanta Kumar Rout on the allegation of acquisition of disproportionate assets. He is presentably posted as the Additional Sub Collector of Nabarangpur district.

Rs 500 notes worth over Rs 2 crore stashed in six cartoons have been seized from the house of Prasanta Rout's neighbour during a raid at Kanan Vihar in Bhubaneswar. The counting is in progress and counting machines have been deployed.

Nine teams of the Odisha Vigilance Department consisting of two Additional SPs, 7 DSPs, 8 Inspectors and other staff are conducting simultaneous raids at nine places in Bhubaneswar, Nabarangpur and Bhadrak.

The raid is being conducted at his two-storeyed house in Kanan Vihar, Bhubaneswar; his residence and office in Nabarangpur and his ancestral home in Bhadrak. The Vigilance team is also conducting raids at the house of his relatives and close relatives, reports said.

There have been several allegations and complaints of corruption and bribery against Rout. After repeated complaints, the Vigilance swung into action and carried out the raids. Several important documents, bank passbooks and ATM cards have been seized from his possession.

However, the raid team is tight-lipped about the amount of movable and immovable properties detected so far.

In 2018, Rout was arrested by the Vigilance officials for demanding a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a panchayat executive officer while he was the BDO of a block in Sundargarh district. He is now accused of being hand in glove with several illegal stone mining mafia and getting hefty commissions from them.

The searches are currently in progress.