Record Rs 4.27cr in cash seized from flat of Odisha officer arrested in corruption case
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Stacks of notes packed in trolley bags, totalling over Rs 4.27 crore, were allegedly recovered from the house of an Odisha Mines Department officer, who was arrested in a corruption case, officials said on Wednesday.
The cash was seized from the Bhubaneswar flat of Deputy Director of Mines Debabrata Mohanty, arrested by the state Vigilance Department on Tuesday night, they said.
Vigilance Director Yeshwant Jethwa said this is the highest-ever cash seized by the anti-corruption agency in the state.
Bhubaneswar division's Vigilance SP Saroj Kumar Samal said that so far, cash worth Rs 4.27 crore has been counted.
"Mohanty was booked in a similar corruption case in 2009, and the trial against him is still going on at a court in Mayurbhanj district," he added.
Attacking the ruling BJP, state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das alleged that the recovery of the cash exposed the staggering scale of corruption flourishing right under the watch "of the so-called double-engine government" in the state.
Mohanty was apprehended while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a licensed coal vendor in exchange for facilitating smooth operations, officials said.
Following his arrest, the Vigilance Department conducted simultaneous searches at his Bhubaneswar flat, his parental house in Bhadrak district, and his office in Cuttack, and made the seizures, they said.
Additionally, Rs 1.20 lakh in cash was recovered from Mohanty's office drawer, they added.
Other assets detected so far include a palatial double-storey house in Bhubaneswar and approximately 130 gram of gold.
Besides, there is a 2,400 sq ft plot in his name where a two-storied building is being constructed, officials said.
"Mohanty has 10 bank accounts and lockers in his name. Those are also being verified," the SP said.
A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered, officials said.
Mohanty entered government service as a junior mining officer at a salary of Rs 8,000 in 2004. He worked in Bolangir, Baripada, and Berhampur before being transferred to Cuttack, where he is posted at present, they said.
The previous highest cash seizure made by the agency was Rs 3.4 crore, found at the residence of an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Division in Ganjam district on April 7, 2022.
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‘Self-styled Vishwaguru stands exposed’: Cong's dig at PM over Pak role in US-Iran ceasefire
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Wednesday said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a “severe setback” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “highly personalised diplomacy” and “the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed”.
The opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi's “cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the entire world will cautiously welcome the two-week ceasefire in the West Asia conflict between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.
“The conflict had begun on February 28th with the targeted assassinations of the topmost echelons of the regime in Iran. These had started just two days after Prime Minister Modi had completed his much-trumpeted visit to Israel, a visit that diminished India’s global stature and standing,” Ramesh claimed.
PM Modi had said nothing about Israel’s "genocide" in Gaza and its aggressively expansionist policies in the occupied West Bank, Ramesh said.
“The role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire is a severe setback to both the substance and style of Mr Modi’s highly personalised diplomacy,” he said.
The policy to isolate Pakistan for its continuing support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and to convince the world that it is a failed state has clearly not succeeded – unlike what Manmohan Singh had accomplished after the Mumbai terror attacks, Ramesh claimed.
That a bankrupt economy dependent entirely on the largesse of external donors and a broken country in so many ways was able to play such a role calls into question Modi’s strategy of engagement and narrative management, he said.
“He (Modi) or his team has also never explained why Op Sindoor was suddenly and abruptly halted on May 10th 2025 - the first announcement of which came from the US Secretary of State and for which the US President has claimed credit almost a hundred times since then,” the Congress leader said.
“There is a palpable sigh of relief everywhere. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) dismissed Pakistan as a dalal. But now the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed, his self-declared 56-inch chest shrunk and shrivelled,” Ramesh said.
“His cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House,” the Congress leader added.
US President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, as the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump swerved to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal or face attacks on its bridges and power plants meant to destroy the Iranian civilisation.
Trump made the dramatic announcement on Truth Social on Tuesday evening (US time) even as Democrats called for his removal over unhinged threats to wipe out the Iranian civilisation.
"Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," the US President said in a social media post.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Pakistan beginning Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin, and attacks took place in Israel, Iran and across the Gulf region early Wednesday.
Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran but the deal doesn't cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday.
