Bhubaneswar, June 18 (IANS) Special teams of Odisha Vigilance have carried out house searches at different locations in Tripura and Himachal Pradesh in connection with the bribery case linked to Dhiman Chakma, a 2021 batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, who was recently arrested over graft charges.

“Following the arrest of Chakma, the Sub-Collector, Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district on June 9 by Odisha Vigilance in a trap case for demanding and taking bribe Rs 10 lakh from a local businessman, three teams of Odisha Vigilance have been deputed to the states of Tripura and Himachal Pradesh at places linked to Chakma for further verification,” said a Vigilance official on Wednesday.

Vigilance sources further noted that the anti-corruption sleuths are carrying out verification and searches at the residential house of Chakma at Kanchanpur, North Tripura and houses of his in-laws at Saminala, under Manali police station area in Kullu district and at Rangbey, under Keylong police limits of Lahaul-Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh, on the strength of search warrants issued by special Judge, Vigilance, Bhawanipatna.

“Relevant documents related to deposits and investments in banks and other financial instruments, etc are being collected and scrutinized. Details of other movable/immovable assets are being ascertained from the DA (Disproportionate Assets) angle,” the official added.

On June 8, Chakma was caught red handed while taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a local businessman, as an installment of the overall demand of bribe of Rs 20 lakh, threatening to take action against his stone crusher unit.

The Vigilance official also recovered Rs 47 lakh cash during searches at his official residence in Dharamgarh.

A case has been registered in this connection at the Vigilance Cell under Section 7 Prevention against Corruption Amendment Act, 2018.

The Odisha government also placed Chakma on suspension following his arrest. Notably, Chakma, a native of Tripura, had earlier joined the Odisha cadre as an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer in 2019 and served briefly as Assistant Conservator of Forests in Baripada, Mayurbhanj.

He later cleared the civil services examination again, secured a higher rank, and was inducted into the IAS in 2021.

–IANS

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