Odisha government employee throws cash from window as vigilance officials raid property; INR 20 million recovered

Vigilance officials in the Indian state of Odisha recovered over INR 20 million in cash along with other valuables from a government engineer's residence. While the officials were investigating, the person in question was throwing bundles of Rs 500 from the window, a video of which has gone viral.

The government employee has been identified as Baikuntha Nath Sarangi. The amount recovered is suspected to be part of his disproportionate income; the officials are conducting searches both at his residence and office.

"The anti-corruption wing of the Odisha Police raided the residences and the office of Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, Chief Engineer, Plan Roads, RW Division, Odisha, Bhubaneswar," a statement said as reported by news agency PTI.

INR 10 million was recovered from his house in Bhubaneswar and over another INR 10 million from his residence at Angul, said an official.

“On seeing the vigilance officers, Sarangi threw bundles of cash in ₹500 denomination through the window of his flat in Bhubaneswar. The cash was recovered in the presence of witnesses," another official added.

Search warrants were issued by Special Judge and simultaneous raids were conducted by vigilance team. Probably, what led Sarangi to rain cash from his window.

An official highlighted the houses he owned; the team located his two-storeyed bungalow in Karadagadia, Angul, and apartments in Bhubaneswar and at Siula, Pipili in Puri district.

The vigilance team searched the engineer's ancestral property along with his relatives' homes in Angul district.