Tehsildar arrested over graft charge

BHUBANESWAR: The tehsildar of Nimapada in Puri district, Rama Chandra Jena, was arrested by the state vigilance directorate on Tuesday on charges of indulging in massive corruption and carrying unaccounted cash of around Rs 5 lakh.
The anti-corruption wing was stunned to find Jena, who was booked by the vigilance in two separate corruption cases in the past, in possession of five PAN cards in his name. Jena, an Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer, was also in-charge sub-registrar at Nimapada. The vigilance officials have also arrested his younger brother, Laxman Jena, for allegedly abetting Rama Chandra’s corrupt activities.
“We intercepted Rama Chandra Jena near his quarter at Nimapada and seized Rs 4.65 lakh cash from him. During a search of his residence, another Rs 50,000 cash was recovered. Searches were conducted at his residence at Sec-11-CDA in Cuttack and his native place at Dhanmandal in Kendrapada district to ascertain whether he possessed any disproportionate assets,” a senior vigilance officer said.
The vigilance directorate has roped in the income tax department to inquire into the matter of the seized PAN cards, which bear different numbers and dates of birth of the card holder.
“Laxman has been handling Rama Chandra’s bribe money for the past few years. He confessed that Rama Chandra gave him Rs 10 lakh cash in three phases in September to deposit in bank. Laxman reached Nimapada to collect Rs 4.65 lakh from Rama Chandra this morning when we seized the cash,” the officer said.
Laxman worked as a truck helper and taxi and bus driver from 2002 to 2019. He is jobless now.

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