Bhubaneswar, Sep 29 — Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday arrested an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) in Mathili Block of Malkangiri district for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income by about 160 per cent.
The accused AEE, identified as Shishir Kumar Dash, is posted at Mathili and is presently attached to the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Malkangiri.
On September 27, Vigilance sleuths conducted simultaneous searches at six locations linked to Dash in Bhubaneswar, Brahmapur and Malkangiri.
As many as six Vigilance teams, led by one Additional Superintendent of Police, five Deputy Superintendents of Police, five Inspectors and supporting staff, carried out the searches on the strength of search warrants issued by the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Brahmapur.
During the searches, the Vigilance teams found Dash and his family members allegedly in possession of a four-storeyed building at Baramunda in Bhubaneswar, a double-storeyed building at Neelanchal Nagar in Brahmapur, six high-value plots, including three in Brahmapur and one each in Puri, Khordha and Ganjam districts, gold jewellery weighing 136 gm, deposits worth Rs 86 lakh, one four-wheeler, three two-wheelers and household articles worth around Rs 16 lakh.
A Vigilance official said that, after a thorough search, inventory and further enquiry, Dash’s income, expenditure and assets were calculated and he was found in possession of disproportionate assets amounting to 160 per cent in excess of his known sources of income.
In another significant development, Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday carried out simultaneous house searches at seven locations linked to Umakant Samantaray, Assistant Director of Factories and Boilers, Sambalpur, over allegations of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The searches were conducted in Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Khordha districts.
During the searches, Vigilance unearthed four buildings, including two in Bhubaneswar, one in Puri and one in Khordha district, besides a three-bedroom flat in Sambalpur.
The agency also found 24 high-value plots, including eight at prime locations in Bhubaneswar and Jatani, three on the outskirts of Khordha, eight in and around Sambalpur town, three at Burla and two at Rengali.
The searches also unearthed gold weighing 300 gm, deposits worth Rs 36.78 lakh, one four-wheeler, three two-wheelers, and household articles worth Rs 7.5 lakh.