Bhanjanagar: Following raids conducted for the last two days at six places linked to an assistant engineer working at Bhanjanagar division of Minor Irrigation (MI) department in Ganjam district, the Vigilance sleuths Thursday unearthed cash of more than Rs 2 crore.
It is said to be the biggest ever amount of cash seized by the Odisha Vigilance. The ill-gotten money was recovered from a house jointly owned by the engineer identified as Kartikeswar Roul and his second wife Kalpana Pradhan at Aiginia locality in Bhubaneswar. A currency counting machine was used for the huge quantity of legal tenders.
An official source informed that properties amounting to Rs 2.76 Crore were also unearthed including two flats in an apartment, seven plots, a duplex at Jagamara in the Capital City, bank deposits of Rs 37.23 lakh and cash of Rs 2.5 lakh, belonging to the engineer Roul.
The teams have so far detected 20 gold biscuits, coins and ornaments weighing around 580 grams, along with several other valuables.
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“Thursday alone, the Vigilance sleuths unearthed cash of Rs 2,50,880, a two-storey building over plot No-1045/2978 at Jagamara, worth over Rs 72 lakhs, a 3BHK Flat No-B/1 over plot No-524 at Tusti Residency of Dumduma worth over Rs 40 lakhs, a 2BHK Flat No-A/073 over plot No-524 at Cosmopolis Residency of Dumduma, worth over Rs 33.63 lakhs, a two-storey building at Roul’s ancestral village Langaleswar under Khalikote police limits, worth over Rs 28 lakhs, fixed deposits, bank and insurance deposits worth approx Rs 37.23 lakhs, seven plots (including two plots in prime area of Bhubaneswar) and five plots in and around Khalikote town, a four-wheeler (Hyundai Creta) worth more than Rs 14 lakhs, three two-wheelers, household articles worth over Rs 17.95 lakhs and gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 5.72 lakhs from the possession of Rout, the senior official expressed.
“We have intensified our focus on the Benami assets and cash stashed in bank accounts of family members as well as those stacked in houses of close contacts by corrupt government officials. The anti-graft department remains committed to stringent action against such corrupt officials,” Vigilance Director Yashwant K Jethwa asserted.
Valuation of disproportionate assets that the government official has amassed will be ascertained after the simultaneous raids are over.
The searches are still underway and further details are awaited.
“Raids are likely to continue to detect all the movable and immovable assets of the engineer Roul. Vigilance sleuths have been scrutinising several important documents seized during raids,” the source said.
It is pertinent to mention here that the searches were conducted by six separate Vigilance teams based on allegation that the engineer has amassed properties unequal to his known sources of income.
Simultaneous searches were conducted by the Vigilance teams led by five Deputy Superintendents of Police and eleven Inspectors including several other subordinate staff. Acting on a tip-off, the sleuths carried out raids at six different places in Khurda and Ganjam districts on the strength of search warrants issued by the Special Vigilance Judge in Bhubaneswar, an official of the anti-corruption agency stated.
Six places where the separate searches were carried out include: a residential quarters located at Irrigation Colony and Roul’s office room, both at Bhanjanagar town in Ganjam district, a Flat No-B/1 located at Tushti Apartment of Meridean College lane under Khandagiri area and a Flat No-A/073 at Cosmpolis Residency and a three-storey building on plot No-1045/2978 at Jagamara area of Khandagiri, all three in Bhubaneswar City and Roul’s ancestral house at Langaleswar village under Khallikote block in Ganjam district, the senior official added.
Earlier this year, the Vigilance had recovered Rs 1.1 crore from the house of a Gynaecologist from Nimapara locality in Puri district. In the same month (March, 2022), cash of Rs 1.40 crore was unearthed from the house of a Superintending Engineer (SE) in Malkangiri district.
PNN