The Bhubaneswar Special Vigilance Court today convicted six persons including a senior
IAS officer for committing financial irregularities in the Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC).
IAS officer Vinod Kumar was former managing director of the ORHDC and is currently posted as an officer on special duty in the state's Higher Education Department.
Except one of the six persons, none was present in the court during delivery of the verdict by it and the judge issued non-bailable warrants against the five, said Special Public Prosecutor (Vigilance) Hemanta Kumar Swain.
The court sentenced Sanjay Mohanty, the only one who was present, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs 25,000.
The Vigilance Directorate had registered a case against Kumar and the five others, accusing them of committing financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 55 lakh in the year 2000.
During his tenure at the ORHDC, Kumar had allegedly granted loans to builders and contractors without obtaining adequate collateral security and proper scrutiny, Swain said adding that no follow-up action was taken by the Corporation to recover the loans.
Kumar was arrested by the Vigilance Directorate in August 2011 following a warrant issued against him for evading court summons in connection with his alleged involvement in the scam.
He had obtained bail from the high court after over three three months of his arrest.
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