Odisha Vigilance Department on Sunday arrested a female engineer after the detection of unaccounted assets, including Rs 7.15 lakh in cash, Rs 63 lakh in bank deposits, and five land plots.
The arrested official was identified as Anupama Sahoo, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) with the drainage division in Kendrapada, according to a vigilance officer.
Acting on specific tipoff, vigilance sleuths intercepted Sahoo’s official vehicle at the Marshaghai crossing on NH 53-A on Saturday while she was traveling toward her residence at Nayanvihar I Kendrapada district.
During the interception, the Vigilance team recovered suspected ill-gotten cash amounting to Rs 3.15 lakh from her possession, stated Cuttack Vigilance SP K B Acharya.
“As she could not satisfactorily explain the source of such huge cash, the same along with the vehicle was seized,” said the Vigilance in a statement.
Following this, searches were launched at her office and residential locations on charges of disproportionate assets from her known sources of income.
During a further search of the engineer’s properties, cash worth Rs 4 lakh was recovered from her Kendrapara residence, taking the total cash seizure to Rs 7.15 lakh, he said.
In addition to the cash, anti-corruption officials unearthed Rs 63 lakh held in various deposits, a flat in Bhubaneswar, a rod and cement godown at Kamakshyanagar in Dhenkanal district, a commercial shop in Bolangir, and five land plots spread across Bhubaneswar, Anugul, and Dhenkanal, Acharya stated.
The SP noted that Sahoo entered government service as a junior engineer (JE) in 2003 under the Anugul irrigation division, earning an initial monthly salary of Rs 4,000, before her service was regularized in 2009.
After receiving a promotion to the rank of assistant engineer, she served in Dhenkanal before being elevated to the rank of AEE and continued her duties there. Sahoo was subsequently transferred to her current post as AEE in the Drainage Division at Kendrapada in March of this year, he added.
