Opposition BJP has been offensive against the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)-ruling dispensation over the recovery of crores of moveable and immovable assets from clerks as well as Nabarangour district's Additional Sub-Collector Prasant Kumar Rout.
After targeting the BJD over the 5T secretary’s visit to different districts and his viral photo with the 'tainted' ADM yesterday, the BJP stepped up its attack on Sunday demanding raids on the properties of class one officers in the state.
“The government is neck-deep in corruption. So far, the whips have been cracked on only second, third and fourth-class employees. If the properties of class one officers, IAS, IPS, ministers, MLAs and MPs are raided, you can imagine how much money would be recovered from them. But can the government do that? Does it have the guts to do that?” asked Anil Biswal, BJP spokesperson.
It is worth mentioning that Revenue Minister Pramila Mallik had on June 24 said there was none getting the patronage of political leaders.
According to the information shared by the state government, during the last few months, whips have been cracked against 187 corrupt officers. Yet corruption is on the rise.
If the statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau-2021 are anything to go by, Odisha is the number one state in corrupt officials being caught in the net.
In 2021, the Vigilance Department registered a total of 92 DA cases which was 23 percent of the total cases registered across the nation.
Despite the fact that the government is emphasizing on eradication of corruption, government officials are still doing corruption. Former DGP Bipin Bihar Mishra ascribed it to the delay in investigation and judgment.
“Investigation and judgment are getting delayed. This apart, it seems that the corrupt officials have an idea that they won’t have to suffer much. Many people fear the action. Those who do not fear are doing the corruption,” said Mishra.
The cash, all in Rs 500 notes, stashed in five cartoons recovered from the Nabarangpur ADM’s residence at Kanan Vihar,
Bhubaneswar is said to have been brought from Nabarangpur. The Vigilance department is yet to reveal the sources of such a huge amount of money.