Vigilance officers find assets worth Rs 5 cr owned by dismissed cop

Behera was dismissed from service with Odisha police for allegedly running a bar at a hotel in Bhubaneswar without a valid licence

Representational Image: File picture

TT Correspondent   |   Bhubaneswar   |   29.10.21: Vigilance officers on Thursday found properties worth several crores of rupees owned by a dismissed Odisha police constable accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Sources said the raids conducted at several places had revealed so far that Prasanna Kumar Behera possessed properties valued at over Rs 5 crore.

Behera was dismissed from service for allegedly running a bar at a hotel in Bhubaneswar without a valid licence. The offence came to light after the murder of 30-year-old businessman Manish Anurag Das. Manish’s body was recovered from a pond on October 10 after he had visited the bar run by Behera late on the night of October 9.

Following an inquiry, it was found that Behera remained in the bar and the bar continued to run till midnight in violation of Covid restrictions. Behera, who was the president of Havildar and Constable Association, was dismissed from service on October 24. He was arrested on October 23.

After allegations surfaced that Behera had amassed huge properties, the vigilance sleuths raided his house and business establishments on Thursday. According to the vigilance media release, Behera owns a furniture showroom at Dumduma on a 0.250 acre plot. It had been registered in 2019 at a consideration value of Rs 1.47 crore. The actual market value is much higher, officials said. The approximate cost of the showroom is over Rs 2 crore, they said.

The vigilance technical wing has roped in professional furniture manufacturers for the valuation of costly items displayed in the showroom.

Officers found that even his residential quarters at Kalpana Square had illegal construction of eight more rooms (three bedrooms, one drawing room, dining room, a kitchen, one puja room and one bathroom). The vigilance technical wing are carrying out measurements and valuations of the illegal constructions.