Watershed officer, four aides held on corruption charges in Odisha
MALKANGIRI/JEYPORE: Two days after carrying out intensive searches at seven locations in Jeypore, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the Vigilance on Friday arrested Malkangiri Watershed deputy director Santanu Mohapatra on charges of misappropriating government funds and amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Besides, four accomplices of Mohapatra were also arrested for abetting him in accumulation of disproportionate assets and collecting bribes from contractors and others on his behalf. They are assistant agriculture engineer Mohan Mandal, data entry operator Biswajit Mandal, contractual employee Amiyakanta Sahu and Alekh Pradhan, the operator of a Jan Seva Kendra at Jagannathprasad in Ganjam district.
Vigilance director Yeshwant Jethwa said Mohapatra and his associates siphoned off government funds by falsely recording many projects as completed. Payments were made to the accounts of labourers which were subsequently withdrawn and misappropriated. At least 35 passbooks of labourers have been found in houses of the accused during the searches. Besides, evidence of transfers amounting to more than Rs 1 crore done by Alekh to Mohapatra from 2019 to 2024 have been gathered.
Vigilance sources said during search, nearly Rs 2.09 crore cash was recovered from the palatial house of Mahapatra at Jeypore. Officials of the anti-graft agency also unearthed movable and immovable assets worth crores of rupees belonging to the officer.
The assets include a triple-storey residential building in Jeypore town, four high value plots in Bhubaneswar and Jeypore, gold jewellery weighing 422.44 gm, bank and insurance deposits of over Rs 91 lakh in the name of Mohapatra and his family members. A four-wheeler, two bikes and household articles worth over Rs 29.08 lakh have also been recovered.
The Vigilance has also found Rs 6.92 lakh cash from the house of Biswajit. Similarly, cash amounts of Rs 1.19 lakh and Rs 81,000 were recovered from the houses of Mohan and Amiyakanta respectively.
After thorough searches and inventory, the income, expenditure and assets of Mohapatra were calculated and he was found in possession of disproportionate assets which were 414 per cent in excess of his known sources of income, said Vigilance.
