India News | Suspended Odisha Police Housing Officer Sent on Compulsory Retirement

Bhubaneswar, Nov 18 (PTI) Suspended deputy manager of the Odisha Police Housing & Welfare Corporation (OPH&WC) Pratap Kumar Samal was sent on compulsory retirement on Thursday following his arrest in a disproportionate assets case.

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A senior official at the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said the action was taken based on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's zero-tolerance policy towards immorality, inefficiency, or lack of integrity.

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The official had been suspended from service following his arrest by the Vigilance last week for allegedly possessing assets which were over 1022 per cent of his known sources of income, the official said.

“With this, 131 government officers have been dismissed from service or sent on compulsory retirement for immorality, inefficiency, or lack of integrity in the last two years,” the official said.

Twenty-five immovable properties, including five buildings and a flat, owned by Samal were found during a search operation carried out by the state Vigilance officials.

Samal was arrested by the anti-corruption wing on November 10 for allegedly possessing Rs 14.87 crore in disproportionate assets, the official said.

The Vigilance had also unearthed suspicious deposits worth Rs 1.5 crore in the bank accounts of Samal and his relatives.

Highlighting that the state government has been stressing the need for a high degree of morality and integrity in public service, the official said the practice of dismissing corrupt and inefficient officials started in 2019.

On November 12, the Odisha government had ordered compulsory retirement of eight officers of various departments.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)