Bhubaneswar, February 25: What began as a routine sting operation over a modest bribe has unraveled one of the largest personal cash hoards ever intercepted by Odisha’s anti-corruption wing. On Wednesday, Odisha Vigilance officials recovered a staggering ₹4 crore in unaccounted cash from the residence of Debabrata Mohanty, a senior mines official, just hours after he was caught in a trap while allegedly accepting a bribe of only ₹30,000.

The discovery has sent shockwaves through the state's administrative circles. Vigilance Director Yeshwant Jethwa confirmed that the recovery represents the highest-ever cash seizure resulting from a single trap case in Odisha’s history. The currency was found packed into trolley bags and hidden deep within almirahs at Mohanty’s residence in the Shree Vihar area of Patia, Bhubaneswar. Odisha Vigilance Crackdown: 212 Officials Arrested and 202 Graft Cases Registered in 2025 Anti-Corruption Drive.

Mohanty, who served as the Deputy Director of Mines in Cuttack, was apprehended on Tuesday night. According to investigators, he had allegedly demanded ₹30,000 from a licensed coal vendor in exchange for facilitating coal depot operations and granting essential transport permissions. Following the initial arrest, simultaneous raids were launched at his office and multiple properties. In addition to the primary cash stash, officials found ₹1.2 lakh in his office drawer, approximately 130 grams of gold, and documents for a palatial double-storey building located in Pahala. Andhra Pradesh: Rs 1.30 Crore Cash Seized From Washing Machines Being Transported in Auto-Rickshaw Trolley in Visakhapatnam.

Odisha Vigilance Recovers INR 4 Crore from Mines Officer’s Home

The Vigilance department is now expanding its probe to determine the source of the wealth and whether Mohanty is linked to broader irregularities within the mining sector. The official remains in custody as investigators continue to tally assets that appear significantly disproportionate to his known sources of income.

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