Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance officials arrested Superintending Engineer (SE) in Rayagada, Sahadev Kisan on Thursday, a day after he was caught with Rs 1.5 lakh unaccounted cash.
The arrest was made after Vigilance sleuths unearthed huge assets and benami bank account during raids at properties linked to Kisan.
Following interception of the SE, PH, Rayagada on Wednesday, simultaneous house searches were conducted by Vigilance officers at two locations linked to him Rayagada and Sambalpur, a Vigilance statement said on Thursday.
During house searches the following moveable & immovable assets worth crores of rupees were unearthed:
1. Two high value plots in Sambalpur town.
2. Bank, Insurance deposits and investment in Mutual fund/share etc. around Rs.50 lakhs.
3. Gold ornaments weighing 100 gms.
4. Household articles worth Rs.10 lakhs.
Further, Kisan was found to be operating a bank passbook opened in HDFC Bank, Gol Bazar Branch, Sambalpur in name of his friend Ramesh Kumar of Uttar Pradesh in which he has deposited suspected ill-gotten cash of over Rs 16 lakh. The transactions are under verification. This apart, Kisan has invested around Rs 15 lakh in share market in name of his friend Ramesh Kumar.
Notably, Kisan was intercepted by a team of Vigilance at Rayagada while he was proceeding from his office to his residential quarter with unaccounted cash by his office vehicle.
During interception, suspected ill-gotten cash amounting to Rs 1,50,000 was found from the possession of Kisan. As he could not account for satisfactorily, the cash from his possession was seized.
Kisan joined as A.E.E in H&UD department on March 29, 2016. He served as A.E.E in the office of Odisha Water Sewerage Board, Sambalpur, P.H Circle, Bhawanipatna and P.H Division, Rayagada. He was promoted to the rank of Executive Engineer in 2022 and Superintending Engineer on March 1, and has been continuing as SE at Rayagada till date.