Nabarangpur Additional Sub-Collector Arrested; Disproportionate Assets Exceeding Rs 5 Cr Seized

Nabarangpur: An OAS officer and Additional Sub-Collector of Nabarangpur, Prasanta Kumar Rout, has been apprehended by the Vigilance department on charges of accumulating disproportionate assets. The amassed assets are reported to be valued at over Rs 5.21 crore, an astonishing 506 percent of his known income.

The SP of the Vigilance Cell, M Radhakrishnan, stated that preliminary estimates suggest Rout’s unaccounted wealth amounts to approximately Rs 5 crore. He failed to provide a legitimate source for the funds and assets. A case has been registered at Rourkela Vigilance Police Station, and Rout has been arrested, with plans to present him in court soon.

During the investigation, several bank accounts and related documents, including passbooks and ATM cards, were seized from Rout. The Vigilance officials are diligently examining these records to establish the full extent of his financial activities.

In a surprising development, a woman, whose name was linked to a benami bank account, appeared at Rout’s residence during the ongoing raid. She claimed to have been unaware of the account and was summoned by the vigilance officials to provide clarifications.

Earlier findings from the Vigilance operation revealed over Rs 3 crore in cash and five plots of land, including a suspected benami plot in Umarkote, Nabarangpur. The valuation of these assets is being conducted by the Vigilance Technical Wing.

Furthermore, it was discovered that Rout had been making regular cash deposits in multiple benami bank accounts. Detailed information regarding one such account at IndusInd Bank, Bhubaneswar has been collected, with suspicions of Rs 21 lakh in cash deposits made by Rout since 2019.

Additional seized assets include bank and insurance deposits exceeding Rs 41 lakh, two four-wheelers (Toyota Innova and Maruti Swift) and a two-wheeler (Honda Activa) valued at Rs 37 lakh, as well as gold, silver jewellery, and household articles worth over Rs 21.35 lakh. The verification process is currently underway for the benami Innova car, with a recorded cost of Rs 29,50,163.

Prior to this incident, Rout had previously faced legal trouble when he was arrested on November 6, 2018, for accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh during his tenure as BDO at Bisra Block. Following his suspension, he was later reinstated as the Additional Sub-Collector of Nabarangpur on January 18, 2020.