BDO, 3 other govt officials held in Nuapada

Besides Komna BDO Subhash Chandra Singh, those arrested were ABDO Pradip Bhoi, Assistant Engineer Sharada Prasanna Behera and junior engineer Prabhati Padmini Bhengra, Superintendent of Police Uma Shankar Das said.

The arrests were made yesterday following detection of alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs nine lakh in execution of works like road construction and renovation of water bodies in Kureswar gram panchayat area of the backward district under MGNREGS, he said.

The BDO and other officials, however, refuted the allegation and said they were innocent.

While the four arrested persons were produced before a court and sent to jail, another official associated with MGNREGS was detained for interrogation to ascertain possible involvement of others in the case, police said.

An investigation had been launched into the matter after the district administration received a complaint from a ward member of the panchayat recently alleging corruption in execution of certain projects, they said.

Spot investigation and verification of records showed that there were irregularities to the tune of Rs nine lakh in implementation of at least two projects involving about Rs 11 lakh, police said.