Bhubaneswar: Director Vigilance Yeshwant K Jethwa is giving sleepless nights to allegedly corrupt officials, who are now under the radar of the ‘Tough Cop’.
In fact Directorate of Vigilance has started hunting of senior engineers, who have allegedly created disproportionate assets worth multi crores.
In the last 15 days, the Vigilance sleuths has raided the assets of four senior engineers including a retired chief engineer Tara Prasad Mishra.
Acting on a tip-off, vigilance teams launched simultaneous raids on the properties of Shri Mishra at nine locations in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Jharsuguda involving 12 DSPs, 12 inspectors, 16 ASIs, and additional staff on 12 August, officials said.
The raids revealed 10 flats in prime locations, seven plots, bank deposits exceeding Rs 2.7 crore, gold weighing 1.5 kg, and Rs 6 lakh in cash, they added.
Additionally, officials discovered branded wristwatches, two luxury cars (Mercedes Benz and KIA Seltos), and Rs 80 lakh spent on the engineer’s daughter’s medical education.
The Vigilance sleuths have also uncovered foreign currencies from USA, Thailand, Vietnam, UAE, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, and Singapore. Further searches are ongoing, and additional deposits and investments in shares and mutual funds are being evaluated.
Prior to Shri Mishra, the Vigilance has conducted raids on the properties of Sunil Kumar Rout, Chief Construction Engineer of the Lower Suktel Project in Balangir, Pravas Kumar Pradhan, Chief Construction Engineer of Anandpur Barrage Division, and Pradeep Kumar Rath, additional chief engineer of Odisha Bridge Construction Corporation (OBCC), Cuttack division.
Shri Rout was arrested for possessing assets amounting to 257% more than his known sources of income, including 36 plots of land
Similarly, Shri Pradhan was arrested by the Vigilance for accumulating 85 pieces of land in the name of him and his family members along with other assets.
Moreover the Vigilance sleuths had found Shri Rath in alleged possession of 50 plots and other moveable and immovable assets. The valuation of his assets is still ongoing, but sources said it could be around Rs 14 crore.
Apart from these senior engineers, Rama Chandra Mishra, joint commissioner of excise, was arrested on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to known source of income.
The joint commissioner and his family members possessed 52 plots apart from six multi-storeyed buildings and two apartments. These land pieces were detected at Sambalpur (two ), Balangir (three) and 47 in Subarnapur.
Besides, the State Vigilance has arrested two Block Development Officers (BDOs) Pradeep Kumar Sahu (Athagarh) and Akhyamita Kartik (Golamunda) for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
While the State Vigilance is continuously taking action against the officers indulged in corrupt practices, corrupt officials are now in a panic mode.