Bhubaneswar/Sambalpur: The Odisha Vigilance Wednesday arrested two government engineers in separate corruption cases, including one for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and another for accepting a bribe from a contractor, officials said.
Padmalochan Nayak, executive engineer of the Command Area Development Authority (CADA), Sambalpur division, was arrested and produced before the court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Sambalpur, for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets to the tune of 119 per cent of his known sources of income, the anti-corruption agency said in a statement.
On allegations of amassing assets beyond his known sources of income, Vigilance officials conducted simultaneous raids at seven locations linked to Nayak in Sambalpur, Cuttack, Balasore and Malkangiri districts Tuesday.
The searches were carried out by a team comprising four DSP-rank officers, 13 inspectors, seven assistant sub-inspectors and other staffers on the basis of warrants issued by the Special Judge, Vigilance, Sambalpur.
During the raids, officials detected 18 high-value plots, three multi-storey buildings, Rs 3.45 lakh in cash and foreign currency notes from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bahrain and the United States, a Vigilance officer said.
The agency also found two excavators, two tractors and gold and household articles worth around Rs 20 lakh, he said.
In a separate case, Vigilance officials arrested Prasanna Kumar Pattnaik, executive engineer of Rural Works Division-I, Rayagada, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a contractor.
According to Vigilance, Pattnaik had demanded Rs 2.5 lakh, or five per cent of pending bills worth Rs 50 lakh, for clearing the dues and issuing a work experience certificate required for the contractor’s participation in a fresh tender process.
After the contractor expressed his inability to pay the amount, the engineer allegedly reduced the demand to Rs 2 lakh.
The contractor subsequently approached Vigilance authorities, following which a trap was laid, and Pattnaik was caught while allegedly accepting the bribe from the complainant, the agency said.
Following the arrest, Vigilance officials carried out simultaneous searches at his residence in Bhubaneswar, his native village in Nayagarh district, the office chamber and the official quarters in Rayagada.
Cash worth Rs 3.39 lakh was recovered from his government quarters, officials said.
Pattnaik was due to retire at the end of this month, they added.