Odisha Executive Engineer Arrested By Vigilance Over DA

Odisha Vigilance on Friday arrested Kartikeswar Roul, Assistant Engineer, Bhanjanagar, Ganjam on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Roul will be forwarded to court today.

"We are conducting raids on the properties of the accused, Kartikeswar Roul, who is an Assistant Engineer of the Minor Irrigation Division in Ganjam district's Bhanjanagar. On the first day, we found assets worth Rs 2.76 crore, including two flats and a double storeyed house in Bhubaneswar, bank and insurance deposits of Rs 37.23 lakhs, two plots in Bhubaneswar and five in Ganjam," said A. James, vigilance Superintendent of Police (SP), Bhubaneswar division.

"His seized assets are valued at Rs 4.76 crore along with his wife's 580 gram gold and since he is a Class-II officer, the assets might be created from illegal income or corruption," James added.

Earlier, the vigilance sleuths had seized around Rs 2 crore from the house of Roul and his second wife Kalpana Pradhan from a flat at Tata Ariana in Bhubaneswar.  

The raid was a continuation of Wednesday when properties amounting to Rs 2.76 crore were unearthed, which included two apartment flats, seven plots, a duplex at Jagamara in Bhubaneswar, bank deposits of Rs 37.27 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh belonging to the engineer.

As per vigilance sources, Roul was arrested as he couldn’t give satisfactory answers regarding his huge amount of properties disproportionate to his known sources of income. Roul will be taken into remand and questioned about the source of his illegally gotten assets. The vigilance officials suspect that Roul might have amassed the properties from bribes and other illegal sources.

Earlier, Odisha Vigilance Director stated they have set their eyes on corrupt officials who have amassed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income and strict action will be taken against them.

(Inputs From IANS)