Bhubaneswar: After 20 hours of marathon grilling, tainted Additional Chief Engineer, Planning, Monitoring, Design and Investigation, RWS&S Nihar Ranjan Das was arrested by the vigilance here in Odisha tonight.
Ranjan has reportedly invested more than 5cr in cryptocurrencies (virtual digital assets). A mail has also been sent to the crypto exchange’s headquarters in Russia and Germany to freeze its cryptocurrency, Vigilance Director Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa informed.
It is noteworthy that based on a reliable tip-off Vigilance raided the house and office of Nihar Ranjan Das at six places simultaneously on charges of possession of disproportionate assets (DA). He was later questioned by a 10-member vigilance team.
Later, Ranjan’s assets were calculated and he was found to have disproportionate assets 275% higher than his known sources of income.
It is to be noted that he was referred to the Hon’ble Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar for possession of disproportionate assets which he could not satisfactorily explain. In this connection it is also registered in Case No. 35 dated 29.10.2022 U/s 13(2) r/w 13(1)(b)/12 PC Act, 1988 as amended by PC (Amendment) Act, 2018.