Bhubaneswar: The State Vigilance Directorate has started a probe into possible involvement of government officials in helping gangster Syed Usman Ali alias Tito acquire sand quarries, lands and petrol pumps.

Officials of the Vigilance Cell, Cuttack, visited the office of the Crime Branch's Special Task Force here on Tuesday. The task force is probing into the criminal network of the gangster.

Vigilance sleuths collected documents and records from the team. "The Vigilance Cell will look into the liability of government officials of various departments on aspects of acquisition of sand sairats, land and petrol pump, vehicles and permits under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with other offences," an official statement from the vigilance said.

The gangster, who was injured in a police encounter on June 30, ran a huge business empire with investments in stevedoring, transport, construction and hospitality.

He also owned two petrol pumps in Kendrapara and Paradip, both of which have since been sealed by the Special Task Force. The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has already recommended a CBI enquiry over the petrol pumps.

The gangster was allegedly helped by state government officials to get the petrol pumps. "Tito also managed to get a stevedoring licence in Paradip port besides rights to lift sand and morrum in Kendrapara. It is hard to believe that he managed to expand his business empire without any help from government officials," said a vigilance sleuth.

Earlier, sleuths of the task force had traced more than 50 bank accounts linked to the gangster, his wife, and 18 associates. The investigating agency had also directed tehsildars of Kendrapara, Mahakalapada, Pattamundai, Dharmasala, Balichandrapur, Garadpur and Marsaghai to provide information about his morrum quarries in Kendrapara district.

A vigilance sleuth said they would also probe into the involvement of government officials in awarding various tenders to the gangster and his associates.

"He bagged a number of contracts from the works department and had full control of the department's various divisions in Kendrapara, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack districts," said a police officer.