Bhubaneswar: Odisha anti-corruption vigilance officials Saturday arrested a junior engineer after seizing Rs 55 lakh in cash and 1.4 kg gold from his possession, an official said.
The arrested official, identified as Susanta Kumar Sethy, was working under the Roads and Buildings Division at Khariar in Nuapada district.
“Sethy was arrested on charges of possessing disproportionate assets (DA) amounting to more than 340 per cent of his known source of income,” said Vigilance SP M Radhakrishna.
According to officials, the suspected ill-gotten cash and gold were allegedly hidden by Sethy’s wife in a tenant’s house on their property.
“This is under verification,” the Vigilance SP added.
During the raid, vigilance officers uncovered a vast amount of unaccounted assets in Sethy’s name.
These included three multi-storey buildings, a farmhouse, nine high-value plots, two expensive four-wheelers (including a benami vehicle), bank deposits totaling Rs 55 lakh, and household articles valued at over Rs 14 lakh.
“Sethy had kept a large amount of ill-gotten money—Rs 55 lakh in cash and 1.4 kg of gold — at his tenant’s residence to evade detection during the vigilance raids. The amount was later allegedly usurped by the tenant,” a vigilance official said.
In connection with this, Sethy’s wife lodged an FIR at Dhouli police station in Bhubaneswar April 13, 2024, alleging that the tenant had failed to return the money and gold. The case is currently under investigation.
PTI
