Forest ranger under Odisha Vigilance scanner; raids underway at five locations

Separate teams of Odisha Vigilance on Friday launched simultaneous raids at multiple locations linked to Semiliguda Forest Ranger Niranjan Satpathy in connection with allegations of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

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The raids are part of an ongoing investigation into alleged financial irregularities. Vigilance teams are conducting searches at five locations associated with the forest ranger across Jagatsinghpur and Koraput districts, including Bhubaneswar.

According to sources, teams comprising six Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs), seven Inspectors and supporting staff are carrying out the searches. The locations under scrutiny include two three-storey residential buildings in the Jharpada area of Bhubaneswar, Satpathy’s ancestral house in Jagatsinghpur district, and his government residential quarters and office premises at Semiliguda in Koraput district.

No official comment was available from the Vigilance teams at the time of reporting.

Satpathy, who had earlier served as a forester in Balada, is currently posted as the Forest Ranger at the Semiliguda Range. Vigilance officials said details regarding the assets detected and their valuation would be disclosed after the completion of the searches and further investigation.

Earlier in the day, Odisha Vigilance had also carried out simultaneous raids at four locations linked to a junior engineer (JE) in Malkangiri district over similar allegations of disproportionate assets. The JE has been identified as Nihar Ranjan Sarkar.

The searches in that case are being conducted at a three-storey residential building at Jayanagar in Malkangiri town, Sarkar’s paternal house at MPV-10 under Kalimela police limits, the house of a relative at Raighar in Nabarangpur district, and his office chamber at the office of the Malkangiri Block Development Officer (BDO).