Cash Haul: Two Odisha Auditors Under Vigilance Scanner

Baripada: Odisha Vigilance intercepted two auditors of the ST&SC Department in Baripada on Thursday night and recovered ₹14.38 lakh in suspected unaccounted cash.
The duo was stopped while travelling in the District Welfare Officer’s Scorpio from the DWO office to their hotel in Roxy Lane. Vigilance officials seized ₹5,51,510 from them, kept in 52 envelopes and 20 loose bundles. A further ₹8,86,830 was recovered during searches of their hotel rooms.

The auditors had been conducting inspections of Ashrams, Sevashrams, schools and SSD hostels under the SC/ST Department. Vigilance said it had verified allegations that they were allegedly seeking ₹10 per enrolled student from school and hostel authorities to facilitate the audits.
Further searches are being carried out as part of a disproportionate-assets probe, while the auditors are being questioned about the source of the cash. The allegations are yet to be proved and remain subject to the investigation and legal proceedings.