Odisha police seek govt nod to act against IAS officer in ₹95 lakh land deal case

POlice on sabbatum feature sought-after(a) regime favorable reception to proceed against a serving Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in Odisha’s Home department in connection with an alleged ₹95 lakh land deal cheating case in Cuttack.The commissionerate of police has written to the state Home department and general administration department seeking sanction to proceed against Aradhana Das, an additional secretary in the Home department, in connection with a 2022 land deal in Cuttack.Police officers said Das took ₹95 lakh from a woman with a disability, Beena Bhawsinka, after promising to sell a 2,400 square feet residential plot in the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) area, but later refused to transfer the property.Beena’s husband, Kamal Kumar Bhawsinka, said in his complaint that under the agreement executed on November 22, 2022, Das had agreed to transfer leasehold rights of the plot for a total amount of ₹95 lakh.“Though my wife paid the entire agreed amount, including ₹85 lakh through RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) transfers and ₹10 lakh in cash, Das did not execute the required documentation to transfer the leasehold rights. I sent repeated reminders, but she avoided communication and provided evasive responses. When I went to meet her, she threatened me saying she would break my hands and make me totally paralysed and implicate me in a case if I pressed for return of the money,” Kamal wrote in the FIR.Das denied receiving any police notice regarding the investigation. “The allegations are all false. She may have made an agreement with my husband, who is no more. How am I responsible?” she told HT.A case was registered on February 5 this year at the CDA Phase-II police station under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including provisions related to cheating, criminal intimidation and breach of trust.As per the investigation report submitted on March 21 by inspector-in-charge of CDA Phase-II police station Anuradha Martha, preliminary findings, including bank records and agreement documents, have proved that ₹95 lakh was transferred to the bank account of the IAS officer, of which ₹85 lakh was via RTGS while ₹10 lakh was paid in cash.The report also said that Das did not cooperate with the investigation. “Despite being a government officer in the Home department, Das did not cooperate with police and refused to accept notices sent by post,” Martha said in her report.HT has reviewed the FIR as well as the letters sent by the inspector and senior police officials regarding the alleged crime of the IAS officer.The deputy commissioner of police, Cuttack, forwarded the report to senior authorities on April 1. Subsequently, on April 6, the additional police commissioner wrote to the general administration department seeking necessary clearance for action against the officer.The letter to the general administration department is for mandatory administrative clearance required for action against senior officials, a senior police officer said.