Bhubaneswar, Mar 29 (IANS): The Odisha vigilance department has seized a record amount of Rs 1.39 crore in cash during raids on properties of Ashis Kumar Dash, a superintending engineer of rural works, Malkangiri, officials said on Monday.

On March 25, a vigilance sleuth intercepted Dash and recovered Rs 10.23 lakh cash from his possession. Since then, simultaneous searches of his residential quarter, office etc. is being conducted.

During the four-day long raid, the vigilance officials seized Rs 1.39 crore cash from Dash, which is the highest ever amount of cash seizure in the history of the vigilance department. During the searches, the vigilance has also seized 1.2 kg gold, said vigilance DSP, Susant Kumar Biswal.

During the raids, the vigilance department has found bank and insurance deposits worth over Rs 4 crore, so far. Verification of other bank accounts and two bank lockers are still to be done. So, the assets are likely to increase further, Biswal said.

The anti-corruption wing has registered 62 cases and arrested 43 government servants, including 14 class-1 officers, for indulging in corrupt practices in 2022 so far, said Y.K. Jethwa, Director, Vigilance Department.