Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance Friday said it has arrested a senior government officer of the watershed department and his four associates on corruption charges.
During search operations, the vigilance department found over Rs 2 crore in cash, deposits worth Rs 91 lakh, gold jewellery weighing 422 grams, four flats and a building from the possession of Santanu Mohapatra, the deputy director and project director of the watershed department in Malkangiri.
Acting on a tip-off, the anti-corruption wing conducted search operations at various locations on Wednesday and Thursday and discovered the properties, the vigilance department said in a statement.
Mohapatra’s four associates, including an assistant agriculture engineer and a data entry operator, were also arrested on the charge of embezzlement of government funds.
“The officer and his colleagues are suspected of misappropriating government funds by falsely reporting completed work and making payments to labour accounts, which were then withdrawn and stolen,” a vigilance official said.
It appears that these people had been operating the labourers’ bank accounts to facilitate the withdrawal and misappropriation of government funds.
PTI
