Sundargarh, Aug 20: Odisha Vigilance officials on Thursday intercepted Muralidhar Urmal, Tahasildar-cum-Sub-Registrar of Lathikata while he was allegedly carrying ₹5 lakh suspected ill-gotten cash.

According to Vigilance, the interception was carried out based on reliable inputs near Rajabasa Chhak in Lathikata. Urmal was reportedly travelling from his office at Lathikata to his residential house in Rourkela in a hired office vehicle, a Scorpio, when a Vigilance team intercepted the vehicle.

During the interception, officials recovered ₹5 lakh cash from Urmal's possession. As he allegedly failed to satisfactorily explain the source of the cash, the entire amount was seized by the Vigilance team. The Scorpio vehicle in which he was travelling was also seized as part of the operation.

Following the interception, simultaneous searches were launched at three locations linked to Urmal as part of a disproportionate-assets (DA) angle investigation.

Further details are expected to emerge as the searches and investigation progress.