Odisha Vigilance arrests three in separate corruption cases
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Friday arrested an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) in Jajpur district for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets (DA) to the tune of 170 per cent beyond his known sources of income.
According to the vigilance, the accused public servant identified as Tapan Sethi is presently posted as AEE of the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Sub-Division in Badachana under SE, R&B Division, Charbatia in Choudwar of Kataka district. During simultaneous house searches, the sleuths found that Sethi and his family members are in possession of huge movable and immovable assets worth crores.
The properties unearthed during the house searches include a triple-storey building at CDA Sector-7 in Kataka, another 3,600 sq ft triple-storey building at Sidha Mahavir in Puri, and a 2,200 sq ft double-storey building at Kantabada in Bhubaneswar. The accused Sethi and his family members were also in possession of a 1.02-acre farmhouse at Kantapada near Kataka and three high-value plots in Bhubaneswar and Kataka.
The cops also detected 747 grams of gold jewellery, deposits of Rs 20.87 lakh, cash and household items worth Rs 15.90 lakh, two cars and four two-wheelers. Sethi was forwarded to the Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Cuttack.
“After thorough search, inventory and further enquiry, the income, expenditure and assets of Tapan Sethi, AEE, R&B Sub-Division, Badachana, Jajpur under SE, R&B Division, Charbatia, Choudwar, Kataka were calculated, and he was found in possession of disproportionate assets which were 170% in excess of his known sources of income, the Odisha Vigilance said.
In a separate operation in Koraput district, anti-corruption sleuths arrested two village-level grassroots functionaries for allegedly embezzling public funds amounting to over Rs 12.33 lakh. The accused persons were identified as G. Shankar, former Assistant Data Entry Operator (ADEO)-cum-former Gram Rozgar Sevak (GRS) of Banuaguda Gram Panchayat, presently posted as ADEO of Lamtaput Block and Laikhana Nayak, Village Mate of Banuaguda Gram Panchayat.
“The accused persons were allegedly engaged in fraudulent practices by falsifying records and showing the execution of multiple government-funded development works that were not actually carried out on the ground. The alleged misappropriation pertains to four major projects under Banuaguda Gram Panchayat within Kundra Block of Koraput district,” Odisha Vigilance noted.
Both the accused were arrested and forwarded to the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Jayapur in Koraput district.