Indus Valley Times

The IFS officer flew in chartered flights during lockdown; his car collections included Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Tata Harrier

Udaypur’s Taj Palace was booked with an advance of Rs 20 lakh for son’s marriage party

By Sudhansu Singh/Sukanta Kumar Mohanty

BHUBANESWAR, NOV. 28: The Vigilance wing of Odisha police on Friday arrested tainted Indian Forest Services (IFS) Abhay Pathak and his son Akash Pathak after getting their medical checkups done at the Capital Hospital here.

The father and son duo was arrested for allegedly amassing huge wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.

On Thursday, the Vigilance had detained the two following unearthing of huge volumes of cash and immovable properties worth over Rs 10 crore. The state anti-corruption agency had conducted simultaneous searches at 25 places in Bhubaneswar, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi.

Abhay, the 1987-batch IFS officer, who is currently serving as the Additional PCCF, Plan, Programme and Afforestation in Odisha, was all set to become Odisha’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), the highest post in the forest department, after two months.

The Vigilance unearthed Rs 9.4 crore cash deposits of which around Rs 8.4 crore was deposited with banks in Bhubaneswar. Besides, it has seized several luxury cars, flats and buildings purchased in the name of his relatives, drivers and other accomplices.

The IFS officer came under the Vigilance scanner for his lavish lifestyle. He flew to Delhi, Mumbai and Rajasthan on chartered flights several times during the Covid lockdown period, paying over Rs 3 crore rupees.

While being taken to Capital Hospital today for checkup, the officer said he was framed by the Vigilance.

“I have been framed. My son earns Rs 1 crore a month. I have not amassed any illegal wealth,” said Abhaya.

Abhay’s son Akash has been booked after a senior official of Tata Motors on Thursday filed a cheating case against him at the Crime Branch for duping people by impersonating as the MD of Tata Motors.

 “The allegations against me are false. This is a vindictive action and everything will be proved in the court,” said Akash.

Vigilance officials said apart from locating huge deposits in banks, Rs 60 lakh cash was recovered from different places during the searches. Apart from costly household articles, gold ornaments weighing 800 grams were also found during the raids.

The anti-corruption wing has also found documents related to purchase of gold ornaments worth Rs 23 lakh by Pathak’s family.

Expensive vehicles like Mercedes, BMW and Tata Harrier and three Yamaha FZ5 motorcycles were found registered in the name of Akash.

During the search at Pune, papers related to the hiring of three vehicles including two Mercedes cars for Rs 25 lakh by Akash had also been found.

Furthermore, more than Rs 1 crore has been paid towards the rent of some luxury apartments and a farmhouse.

Bills of more than 90 lakhs at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai and advance booking amount of Rs 20 lakh at Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur in Rajasthan have also been paid by Akash. 

The foreign travel details of tours to Malaysia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and Maldives have been obtained, the official said.