Bhubaneswar: The Tahasildar-cum-Sub-Registrar of Lathikata in Sundaragada district was arrested by Vigilance on Friday in an interception case while allegedly carrying suspected ill-gotten cash.
Muralidhar Urmal was later forwarded to the Special Judge, Vigilance, Sundaragada. A case has been registered against him at Rourkela Vigilance Police Station under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
According to Vigilance, Urmal was intercepted on Wednesday near Rajabasa Chhak, Lathikata, while travelling in his hired office Scorpio vehicle bearing registration number OD-14AL-1327 from his office at Lathikata to his residence at Rourkela. During the interception, suspected ill-gotten cash of Rs 5 lakh was found in his possession, which he failed to account for satisfactorily. The cash along with the vehicle was seized by the Vigilance team.
Following the interception, simultaneous searches were conducted at his residential building at E-43, Civil Township, Rourkela, his house at native village Karamdihi under Sundargarh Sadar police station and his office chamber at Lathikata Tahasil.
During the house searches, cash of Rs 5.83 lakh was unearthed, taking the total cash seizure to Rs 10.83 lakh. Vigilance officials also recovered 606 grams of gold jewelry and 635 grams of silver ornaments. Bank, postal and insurance deposits worth Rs 75.31 lakh were found in his and his family members’ names.
The searches also revealed immovable assets including a double-storeyed building of approximately 3,700 sqft at Karamdihi in Sundargarh and six high-value plots on the outskirts of Sundargarh town. In addition, one Hyundai i10 Grand Sport car and three two-wheelers were detected in his possession. Further investigation into the case is underway.
