Bhubaneswar: Odisha Cadre IAS Officer Vinod Kumar who was granted bail by the High Court in Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) loan scam four days ago, was convicted in another corruption case by the special vigilance court here on Monday.
Besides Kumar, OHRDC former assistant manager A Anand Rao and former managing director of Federation of Labour & Construction Cooperative Radha Ranjan Patnaik were also awarded three years jail term with Rs 50,000 fine. They will undergo six months more rigorous imprisonment in case of default of payment of fine, the court said.
The vigilance court convicted the trio for sanctioning loans unlawfully to 20 staff of Federation of Labour & Construction Cooperative. During investigation, the vigilance found that loans were sanctioned on forged documents.
Former vigilance DSP Biswanath Mishra was the investigating officer of the case.
Kumar is also accused of resorting to unfair means to sanction funds as the managing director of the Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation after Super Cyclone hit the coastal state in 1999. He was accused of illegally sanctioning Rs33.34 crore in the aftermath of the cyclone that had caused heavy financial losses and widespread devastation.
