Koraput: Odisha Vigilance sleuths Sunday arrested Sunabeda Municipality assistant engineer Manoj Kumar Patra on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Acting on allegations against the accused officer, six teams of the anti-corruption wing led by five DSPs with support of eight inspectors and other staff carried out simultaneous raids at the properties of Patra in Khurda, Gajapati, Ganjam and Koraput districts February 18 and 19.
During the searches, the sleuths claimed to have unearthed disproportionate assets (DA) worth crores of rupees belonging to the officer.
“Patra couldn’t account for his possession of uneven property satisfactorily during the raids and was subsequently arrested,” said a Vigilance official.
A case under Section 13(2), 13(1)(b)/12 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 as amended by PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered against Patra and his wife.
As per police sources, Patra has been forwarded to the court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Jeypore. The Vigilance sleuths have so far come across cash of Rs 28.61 lakh, 369.10gm gold and 288.51gm silver jewellery worth Rs 11.44 lakh.
A 3BHK flat at Pokhariput in Bhubaneswar worth about Rs 80 lakh, a double-storied building at Berhampur worth Rs 50.57 lakh and seven plots were also found in their possession.
PNN