Odisha govt suspends IFS officer arrested in DA case
Nov 28, 2020
Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], November 28 : Odisha Government on Friday suspended Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Abhay Kant Pathak from service after he along with his son Akash were arrested by Vigilance Department on disproportionate assets charges.
Pathak is currently serving as Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Plan, Program and Afforestation, Odisha.
After the arrest, Pathak and his son Akash were sent to judicial custody till December 9 after the rejection of their bail application by the special Vigilance Court in Bhubaneswar.
Based on the allegations of possession of disproportionate assets by Abhay Kant Pathak, simultaneous searches were conducted at five places in Bhubaneswar, seven places in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra and Bihar by officers of Odisha Vigilance on November 25 and 26 on the strength of search warrants issued by Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar.
As per the Vigilance Department, Rs 9.40 crore cash deposit was made in the bank account of Akash Pathak, Rs 50 lakh cash was recovered from Abhay Kant Pathak's nephew, Rs 20 lakh from his driver along with gold worth around Rs 10 lakh.
Charter flight bills worth Rs 3 crore, Rs 90 lakh bills at Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, two luxury flats in Pune, one farm house in Pune taken on rent, Mercedes, BMW and Tata Harrier in the name of Akash Pathak in Bhubaneswar.
In view of expanding the scope of the investigation, Odisha Vigilance has formed a 20 member Special Investigation Team (SIT) for further interrogations in this case.
