Obsession for land: Odisha forest officer discovered to have bought 115 plots

An Odisha forest officer was discovered to have amassed an astonishing 115 plots in locations he was posted over the previous 33 years, the State’s Vigilance Directorate mentioned.

When officers of the Vigilance Directorate — the anti-corruption wing of the Odisha authorities — started combing by particulars of properties linked to Nityananda Nayak, an Odisha Forest Service officer, they anticipated irregularities. But what they unearthed was a rare land-buying spree.

Currently serving because the Divisional Forest Officer of the Kendu Leaf Division in Keonjhar, Mr. Nayak seems to have spent his three-decade-long service in not simply defending forests, however quietly cultivating a real-estate empire.

His purchases started modestly — simply two plots between 1992 and 2006. But from 2007 onward, his obsession had grown. During his posting as Forest Ranger within the Khariar division (2007–2015), he acquired 64 plots. Promoted to Assistant Conservator of Forests, he added 39 extra between 2015 and 2022. As Deputy Conservator of Forests within the PCCF (Wildlife) workplace, Bhubaneswar, he bought one other eight plots from 2022 to 2024. And even in his present posting in Keonjhar, he had added two extra since January this 12 months.

The tally? A staggering 115 plots. But that’s not all.

The vigilance probe additionally revealed a four-storeyed, 9,000-square-foot constructing constructed by Mr. Nayak at Turanga in Angul. A more in-depth have a look at possession particulars revealed that of the 115 plots, 53 have been in Nayak’s identify, 42 in his spouse’s, and 20 beneath the identify of his two sons and daughter. All have been concentrated within the Chhendipada space of Angul — a area sitting atop huge coal reserves. With land compensation within the space operating into crores, officers imagine the acquisitions have been strategic, geared toward future windfalls.

The directorate, which is compiling a listing of presidency officers who had amassed such belongings, has positioned Mr. Nayak proper on the prime — surpassing even Pravas Kumar Pradhan, a former Chief Construction Engineer of the Anandpur Barrage, who owned 105 plots. Others on the record embrace Ramachandra Mishra, former Joint Commissioner of Excise, and Pradeep Kumar Rath, Additional Chief Engineer of Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation, each with over 50 plots every.

An investigation into the supply of funds for Mr. Nayak’s expansive land holdings is at the moment beneath approach.