Bribery probe: Properties linked to IAS officer Chakma searched
1
2
3
Bhubaneswar: Days after arresting IAS officer Dhiman Chakma, a resident of Tripura, on charges of accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a stone miner in Kalahandi district, the Odisha vigilance directorate on Wednesday conducted simultaneous searches at properties linked to his family and relatives in Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.
Three teams carried out verification and searches at the residence of Chakma at Kanchanpur in North Tripura and at houses of his in-laws at Saminala in Kullu district and Rangbey in Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal.
"Relevant documents related to deposits and investments in banks and other financial instruments among others were collected and scrutinised during the house search. Details of other movable and immovable assets are being ascertained from disproportionate assets (DA) angle," an official vigilance statement read.
Chakma, a 2021-batch IAS officer, on his first posting as sub-collector in Dharamgarh, was arrested on June 8 at his official residence in Kalahandi, while receiving Rs 10 lakh — the initial instalment of a Rs 20 lakh demand — from one Harsha Bardhan Behera, who owns a stone crusher unit, the agency said. Subsequent searches at his quarters led to a stash of Rs 47 lakh in cash.
"We are trying to find out the sources through which he accumulated the huge ill-gotten cash. If anyone paid him bribes previously, they should help us gather more evidence against him," an officer said.
Following his suspension on June 10, Chakma remains in judicial custody.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
4 arrested for running illegal betting website
Kolkata: Bidhannagar Police, with help from the cyber crime wing, arrested four persons, including a Nepali national, for operating an illegal online betting website. The accused — Debjit Basak (26), Ankit Gupta (27), Kushal Roy (28), and Sambhu B K (32) — were nabbed during a raid at a condominium in New Town on Wednesday. The website, sources said, took bets of around Rs 30 crore during the last IPL tournament and deceived thousands with promises of substantial profits. They carried out operations across Nepal and Sri Lanka, too. Cops also seized smartphones, SIM cards, laptops, ATM cards allegedly obtained through forged documents, and Indian and Nepali passports. SI Debabrata Banerjee of Bidhannagar cyber crime PS is leading the probe to nab other members of the gang.
Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
6 Haryana irrigation dept officials to face action over project delays
Chandigarh: Two days after Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini expressed strong displeasure over project delays and questionable work order allotments, particularly for the diaphragm wall in the Yamuna, the irrigation department has identified six officials, including two chief engineers, for strict departmental action. The administrative secretary of the irrigation and water resources department has forwarded a proposal detailing the disciplinary measures to the chief minister's office (CMO) for approval. The department is also considering a probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. A decision is expected on Friday, when the irrigation department officials attend a follow-up meeting, expected to be chaired by CM Saini himself. Sources said the meeting will review the progress of five mega projects, including a new parallel lined channel from Dadupur to Hamida head, the remodelling of the Western Yamuna Canal (WJC), augmentation canal remodelling, and the construction of a diaphragm wall downstream of Hathnikund barrage. "Soon after the Monday review, the officials facing action were identified and the proposal was forwarded to the CM," an official confirmed. "Regarding the Yamuna barrage work, technical clarifications on raw material sources will also be sought," the official added. Last week, irrigation and water resources minister Shruti Choudhry announced departmental action against 80 officials for use of substandard material in civil works. While this issue was yet to settle down, the slow pace of development in mega projects for the augmentation of irrigation and inadequate progress of works at the Yamuna barrage led to more chief engineers and errant officials facing action. On Monday, during a review meeting of mega projects worth more than Rs 100 crore of the irrigation and water resources department, the CM was upset with the pace of work progress and certain anomalies in the bidding and awarding of tenders. He categorically asked the administrative secretary and director general of the irrigation department to put his "displeasure note" on the file, demanding identification of the officials responsible. MSID:: 121934333 413 |
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Tours operator staff attacked and robbed of car, cash worth 50K
Pune: A 42-year-old tours and travels operator registered a complaint with the Airport police on Tuesday night. He stated that three drivers, whom he removed from their jobs, abused and attacked his manager and two staffers. They also robbed cash amounting to Rs 50,000 and a car parked in the premises. The incident occurred at a tours and travels office in front of Dorabjee Mall at Vimannagar on the night of June 15. Senior inspector Ajay Sankeshwari said on Wednesday that the drivers visited the travels office and initiated a dispute with the manager and his two staffers over their dismissal and unpaid salaries. Sankeshwari mentioned that after the dispute became violent, the drivers abused and attacked the operator and others. One of them robbed cash and fled with the car because he was in possession of the keys. Regarding the delay in registering the complaint, the police officer explained that the operator was in Nagpur for business purposes at the time of the incident, and one of his staffers was recovering in a private hospital. After the operator reached Pune, he approached the police with a complaint. "We have detained one of the drivers named in the complaint for questioning," he added.
