Tripura-Manipur cadre IPS officer held in corruption case

Bhubaneswar, Jul 23: The anti-corruption vigilance sleuths today arrested an IPS officer of Tripura-Manipur cadre from Ghaziabad for his alleged involvement in a scam in Odisha.

Joydeep Nayak was produced before the court of chief judicial magistrate in Ghaziabad of Uttar Pradesh which has granted the transit remand, an official release said.

He was being brought to Odisha, Vigilance superintendent of police Swarup Kumar Parida said. Nayak was on the run for one month after a case was registered against his name by Odisha vigilance. He was arrested by a special team of the vigilance wing.

Nayak, a 1991-batch IPS officer, was allegedly involved in misappropriation Rs 88 lakh meant for computer education of SC/ST students and self help groups (SHGs) in Odisha when he was on deputation in the Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) of Odisha police.

Nayak has been accused of awarding the contract to a computer company in Cuttack without floating any tender. The scam came to light this year after Nayak's successor took charge of HRPC.

Later, the ST and SC development department also conducted a special audit during which the misappropriation was detected and the department lodged a formal complaint with the vigilance this month.

Based on the complaint, the state vigilance has already arrested the additional SP Basanta Kumar Pradhan, who was then DSP of the cell, Pracheta Kumar Mishra, the then steno, Ashutosh Mishra, proprietor of the computer company, Chandi Charan Patnaik, its general manager and Mamata Rout, who is the proprietor of a printing press.

Tripura government had suspended Nayak on July 6 for breaching service rules. Nayak, who was posted as director in Tripura fire service department, was transferred as OSD to State Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development.

Tripura government initiated action against the official after Odisha Vigilance department wrote to it regarding the non-appearance of the officer despite notices sent to him. Nayak had come to Odisha on deputation in 2011 and served in several positions.

The alleged corruption took place when he was in-charge of SC & ST Protection Cell, HRPC Odisha, Cuttack from August 24, 2012 to December 31, 2015.

He returned to Tripura in January 2016 to join as Director Fire Services. Nayak had undergone a surgery on his leg at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi and remained untraced after his discharge from the hospital on June 22.

PTI