It was found that Odisha Forest has accumulated an amazing 115 land in places where he has been sent over the last 33 years, the State Directorate for Alertness said.
When the Vigilance-Proticorpoint Wing of the Odisha Government Directorate was fighting for details of Nityanand Nayak, Odisha’s forest service officer, they expected irregularities. But what they discovered was an extraordinary increase in land purchase.
It seems that he currently serves as a divisional forest officer of the Kenda Leaf Division in Keonjhar and spent his three -year service not only for forest protection but quietly by cultivating real estate.
His purchases began modestly – only two land between 1992 and 2006. However, since 2007 his obsession has grown. During his broadcast of the forest guard in the Khariar division (2007–2015) he gained 64 land. He added 39 more to the forest assistant between 2015 and 2022. He bought another eight land from 2022 to 2024 in Bhubaneswar as a representative of the PCCF (Wildlife) forest (Wildlife).
Tally? Stunning 115 land. But that’s not all.
The Vigilance probe also revealed a four -storey building with an area of 9,000 square feet built by Mr. Nayak in Turanga, Angulu. A closer look at the ownership data revealed that out of 115 land was 53 in the name of Nayak, 42 in his wife and 20 under the name of his two sons and daughter. They were all concentrated in the CHHEndiPad area in Angul – in an area sitting on top of huge coal reserves. With the soil compensation in the Crores area, officials believe that acquisitions were strategic, focused on future unexpected.
The Directorate, which draws up a list of government officials who collected such assets, placed Mr. Nayak directly to the top – even exceeded Pravas Kumar Pradhan, former chief civil engineer Anandpur Barrage, who owned 105 land. Others include Ramacandra Mishra, a former common commissioner for excise duty, and Pradeep Kumar Rath, another chief engineer Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation, both with more than 50 land.
Currently, there is an investigation into the source of funds for the extensive land of Mr. Nayak.
Published – July 21st 2025 02:30
