Odisha: Police Inspector Amasses Rs.32 lakh Just in 2 Months in Maoist-hit PS,Trapped

Bhubaneswar: The vigilance sleuths of Odisha were on Tuesday stunned to recover Rs 25 lakh from the residence of a police inspector who was on Tuesday apprehended while travelling in a bus with the ill-gotten money.

The inspector identified as Sushant Satpathy had stashed the money in separate boxes at his government quarters at Buxi Bazar in Cuttack city.

Satpathy was intercepted by a team of Odisha Vigilance near Jeypore on Monday night and approximately Rs 2.7 lakh cash was recovered from his possession, the source of which he could not explain satisfactorily. After further searches, Rs 1.8 lakh cash was recovered from his office chamber at Boipariguda Police Station and Rs 3 lakh more from his government quarters at Boipariguda.

With the fresh recovery, the total cash seizure from Satpathy’s possession reached Rs 32.5 lakh. Sources said the inspector collected the money from the ganja mafias.

As per reports, the cash was recovered in bundles of Rs 500 and other denominations during searches this morning.

The Vigilance raided Satapathy following a tip-off about his journey from Boipariguda to Cuttack in a private bus along with suspected ill-gotten cash.

He was detained after recovery of cash and is being examined in this connection.

Inspector Satpathy was transferred from Koraput to Malkangiri district just two months ago. Sources informed that he was asked to keep a tight vigil on ganja (cannabis) trafficking in the area. However, instead of checking the ganja trafficking and cracking whips on the contraband smugglers, he mysteriously took a soft stand on them, raising suspicion in different circles.

The vigilance department wing was keeping a close eye on Satpathy’s suspicious activities and finally succeeded in nailing him with the help of informers.

Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada and Nabarangpur districts in South Odisha have strong presence of the Left-Wing Extremism elements. The LWE extremists allegedly extend patronisation to the banned ganja cultivation.

In the past, a few other police personnel were caught for their alleged support to the ganja growers and smugglers.