Bhawanipatna, May 13: In a major crackdown on corruption, the Kalahandi Vigilance Department arrested five forest officials in connection with financial mismanagement of plantation funds under Jayapatna Forest Range.

The accused, including Deputy Ranger Sairendri Bag Bag, Foresters Umesh Rout and Debraj Sunani, Forest Guards Ashok Sahu and Lalit Nayak, allegedly misused government funds meant for afforestation projects.

According to the Vigilance inquiry, an officer team of 25 personnel conducted inspections at multiple plantation sites, leading to evidence of embezzlement and fund diversion. The investigation revealed that ₹80 lakhs meant for tree planting was siphoned into anonymous bank accounts and later withdrawn, violating financial regulations.

The probe focused on afforestation projects at Champachua-1 (₹43,75,634 for 1,600 plantations), Champachua-2 (₹6,67,446 for 1,600 plantations), and Khamarpadar Badahil (₹12,76,291 for 800 plantations) and Khamarpadar NNR (₹5,12,519 for 400 plantations), where funds allocated (in 2023-24 fiscal year) for thousands of saplings were misused.

“Today, 5 Forest officials were arrested for Embezzlement of Rs.80 Lakhs under ‘Compensatory Afforestation Scheme’ in Kalahandi, South Forest Division in 2023-24, by not doing plantations, falsifying records, transfering funds to fictitious labour acts & misappropriating them,” reads a post by Odisha Vigilance on X.

Following initial findings, the Vigilance Court registered a corruption case (Case No. 19/25), and further investigations are ongoing. Notices have been issued to involved construction firms and forest authorities, demanding accountability.

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