Government engineer, wife arrested after Odisha Vigilance recovers Rs 3.4 crore in disproportionate assets

An assistant manager of the Odisha Minor Irrigation and his second wife were arrested by Odisha Vigilance for possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs 3.4 crore.

Odisha Vigilance arrested an assistant engineer and his second wife in Bhubaneswar for possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs 3.4 crore. Kartikeshwar Roul is an assistant engineer in the minor irrigation division in Odisha. Vigilance officials on Saturday arrested Kalpana Pradhan, Roul’s second wife, for allegedly abetting the offence of her husband.

Vigilance officials recovered an additional Rs 1.4 crore cash after a search was conducted at Pradhan’s sister’s house in Bhubaneswar. Earlier, Rs 2 crore in cash and 20 gold biscuits weighing around 580 gm were recovered from properties linked to Roul.

Odisha Vigilance Director Yashwant K Jethwa said, “With this, the total cash seizure in the case has reached Rs 3,41,66,280 which is the highest ever cash seizure by Odisha Vigilance in a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case.”

The officials also recovered documents indicating the purchase of a triplex bungalow worth Rs 78.5 lakh by Roul from Keshari Estate Pvt Ltd in Bhubaneswar. The documents indicate that Roul made the payment in cash.

ALSO READ | Agriculture subsidy amounting to Rs 6.81 crore pocketed by two brothers, arrestedThe vigilance officials had also seized assets worth over Rs 2.76 crore. These included 2 flats and a double storied building in Bhubaneswar, bank and insurance deposits worth around Rs 37.23 lakh and 7 plots of land.

Jethwa said,“The Odisha Vigilance remains committed to strong action against corrupt officials.” He also said the vigilance is focused on benami assets(nameless assets) stashed by corrupt government officials in the bank accounts of their family members or the houses of close contacts.