Bhubaneswar: Subhendu Pradhan, Junior Engineer at the office of Block Development Officer (BDO) in Bhubaneswar, has been arrested by the Vigilance on Thursday on charges of acquisition of disproportionate assets. The anti-corruption wing has unearthed 'ill-gotten' property worth around Rs 1.76 crore, which exceeds all his known sources of income by almost 250 per cent, reports claimed.
Based on search warrants issued following allegations of possession of DA, Vigilance sleuths yesterday conducted simultaneous raids at Pradhan's triple-storied building at Dumduma in Bhubaneswar, his house at native village Srichandanpur under Kakatpur PS in Puri, and office at Bhubaneswar.
In course of search and inventory, the JE was found in illegal possession of assets worth Rs 1.76 crore which include one triple-storied building, one flat, one single-storied building, one apartment, eleven plots, a four-wheeler, 2 two-wheelers, deposits in different banks, gold and silver ornaments, cash and household articles.
During the house search, the movable and immovable assets unearthed from the possession of Pradhan and his family members include one triple-storied building at Dumduma (Rs 16.44 lakh), one flat at Palasuni, Bhubaneswar (Rs 29.21 lakh), one apartment at Kantilo, Jatni (Rs 20.35 lakh), one single-storied building at Srichandanpur (Rs 10.71 lakh), and eleven plots at Bhubaneswar and Kakatpur, the value of which is estimated around Rs 12.06 lakh.
His illegal assets further include a four-wheeler (Rs 12.6 lakh), two motorcycles, advance paid for the purchase of land (Rs 2.89 lakh), deposit in different banks amounting to Rs 2.01 lakh, gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 74,200, and household articles of Rs 12.44 lakh.
In another development, the forest wing of Sambalpur Vigilance division conducted a joint forest raid at an illegal sawmill at Cheruapada under Khetrajpur police limits. During the raid, sawmill machinery and accessories along with 15 Cft. timber worth Rs 90,000 were detected and seized. A case has been registered at the Town Range, Sambalpur Forest Division for further legal action.