Bhubaneswar, July 24: Joydeep Nayak, the Manipur-Tripura cadre IPS officer who was arrested yesterday by the state vigilance department, was sent to jail today.
Nayak, a former inspector general of police (SC&ST Protection Cell), Odisha, was arrested for alleged misappropriation of Rs 88 lakh.
The special vigilance court of Cuttack will hear the state vigilance department's petition to take the 1991-batch IPS officer on four-day remand tomorrow.
Nayak, had allegedly misappropriated Rs 88 lakh allocated by the ST and SC development department to the SC&ST Protection Cell of the state police last December for skill development programme for students with the help of some other officials. Nayak had awarded the contract to a Cuttack-based organisation - Axis Computers - without floating a tender.
Sources said the organisation did not have the expertise to train 6,000 students.
On June 22, the vigilance directorate registered a case of graft against Nayak and five others, including an officer of the rank of additional superintendent of police. While the vigilance arrested all the accused earlier last month, Nayak was on the run.
Robbers nabbed
Police arrested three criminals from Barimund village in Mancheswar police limits last night. In the process, the cops busted a robbery plan in the area.
The cops also seized a pistol and five rounds from them.
The accused have been identified as Santosh Reddy, 28, Ashok Kumar Naik, 35, and Ranjan Kumar Naik, 23, all hailing from Ganjam district.
"We have found Santosh's involvement in as many as eight robbery and loot cases in Bhubaneswar and Ganjam. We are verifying the antecedents of the others," said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.
Further investigation also revealed that all the accused stayed at Saliasahi, a city slum, which has gained notoriety for criminal activities. The police said a number of criminals took shelter at rented accommodations in the slum.
The slum, which is located on 250 acres and has a population of more than 1.2 lakh and nearly 20,000 households, has witnessed a number of criminal activities in recent years. Around 200 cases are reported from the slum every year.
The slum, with its congested, narrow lanes and easy availability of accommodation at cheap rates, has become a favourable location for criminals to take refuge.
In 2013, the cops had started a drive in the slum to keep a database of tenants staying there.
The cops are also concerned by the sale of liquor and drugs in the slum. It has also been alleged that the slum has become a gamblers' den.
"We will shortly start a drive in the area to nab criminals staying there. Besides, we will also ask the landlords in the slum to furnish details of tenants staying with them and we will verify all their antecedents," said a senior police official.
