Bhubaneswar: A day after arresting minor irrigation assistant engineer Kartikeswar Raul on corruption charges, the Vigilance Department today seized Rs 1.4 crore cash concealed by him in a small house located in Salia Sahi slum.
Mr.Raul with the help of his second wife Kalpana Pradhan secretly stored the cash along with 360 gm gold and 1004 gm silver in the house, where Kalpana’s sister was residing.
In this connection, the vigilance today arrested Mr.Raul’s second wife Kalpana. She was arrested for actively abetting the offence of the engineer and helping him for concealing the ill-gotten money. She is being forwarded to the designated court today, the Vigilance said.
After arresting Mr.Raul yesterday, the vigilance officials interrogated Kalpana (second wife of Raul). During the interrogation, she confessed to having concealed more cash, gold etc in her sister’s house at Salia Sahi (a slum area of Bhubaneswar).
Based on this input, a team of Odisha vigilance raided the 1 room house of Kalpana’s sister early morning today and seized Rs 1.41 crore cash along with 360 gm gold and 1004 gm silver belonging to Mr.Raul.
With this, the total cash seizure in this case has risen to Rs 3.41 crore, which is the highest ever cash seizure by Odisha vigilance in a case, informed the officials.
Further, property documents indicating purchase of a triplex bungalow by Mr.Raul at Pokhariput in the capital city on cash payment of Rs 78.50 lakh were also recovered by the vigilance.
The vigilance, which is conducting raids on the properties of the engineer and his family members since April 6, has so far detected cash of Rs 3.41 crore, gold weighing 940 grams, 1 kg silver, double-storeyed building, a three-bedroom flat, a two-bedroom flat at Khandagiri in Bhubaneswar and a double-storeyed building at his native village in Ganjam and a triplex bungalow at Pokhariput.
Besides, five plots in Ganjam, two land plots in Bhubaneswar were also detected by the anti-corruption wing. Fixed deposits and insurance premiums to the tune of Rs 37.23 lakh and other expensive household articles were found in the possession of Mr.Raul.