As part of its zero-tolerance policy to corruption, the State government on Wednesday sacked 1989-batch senior Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) officer and former managing director of the Odisha Rural Housing Corporation Binod Kumar on the charge of misusing office and masterminding corrupt practices.
It’s pertinent to note here that the government earlier in May last year had dismissed senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Abhay Kanta Pathak from service after his involvement in a high-profile job scam by the Crime Branch. He was also arrested in a disproportionate case by the anti-corruption vigilance wing of the State police.
“During his tenure as the Managing Director of the Odisha Rural Housing Corporation, Kumar had illegally sanctioned Rs 33.34 crore towards various fake farms and individuals in the aftermath of 1999 super-cyclone. As a result, the state government suffered huge financial losses. As a result, the Odisha government has filed 26 Vigilance Cases against Kumar. Kumar has been convicted in two of the cases”, the statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.
Kumar, a 1989-batch IAS officer and a former managing director of ORHDC, had been convicted by the special vigilance court in 2020 and was sentenced to 3 years of rigorous imprisonment for granting undue official favour, criminal misconduct, forgery, cheating, and criminal conspiracy and obtaining pecuniary advantage to builders.
The state government has always initiated stringent action against corruption. The state government is determined to take exemplary action against the perpetrators of corrupt practices, no matter how high they are, the CMO statement added.