In accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has conducted search operations at many offices and residential locations of Jitendra Nath Patnaik and associated entities in Joda, District-Keonjhar, and Bhubaneswar. Ex-MLA Jitendra Nath Patnaik, Champua Constituency, Odisha, is accused of illegally mining without the required statutory licences and obtaining excessive financial profit. Along with a number of damning papers and digital pieces of evidence, “cash amounting to Rs. 70 Lakh” and “124 Nos. of fixed deposits equal to Rs. 133.17 Crore” were also seized during the search operations.
On the basis of the FIR and Chargesheet submitted by the State Vigilance Cell of Odisha against Jitendra Nath Patnaik and others, ED opened a money laundering probe. According to the State Vigilance’s charge sheet, the accused engaged in unlawful mining for an extended period of time and caused the government’s coffers to suffer losses of more than Rs. 130 Crore. The proceeds of the crime have thus almost entirely been recovered by ED. Additional investigation is being conducted.
