In a major crackdown on corruption, the Odisha Vigilance department on Saturday unearthed massive assets worth crores of rupees, including over Rs 2 crore in cash, 14 high-value plots, 341 gm of gold jewellery and deposits worth over Rs 45 lakh, during simultaneous raids on properties linked to a government engineer.
The searches targeted Baikuntha Nath Behera, an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Baliguda, in Kandhamal district, following a case of alleged disproportionate assets.
According to an official statement, the anti-corruption department detected an empire of properties registered in the name of Behera and his family members at different places, including Bhubaneswar, Jajpur and Baripada.
“We have located at least four lockers in the names of Behera and his wife. More than Rs 2 crore in cash has been seized from two bank lockers. Counting through bank machines is in progress,” a senior Vigilance official said.
The department said the technical and finance wings of the department are currently conducting measurement and valuation of the buildings and plots. The weight and valuation of gold ornaments, bank deposits, postal savings and other financial investments are also being verified.
The anti-corruption operation was carried out by teams comprising two additional superintendents of police, five deputy superintendents of police, six inspectors and other supporting staff under search warrants issued by the Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar.
Officials said simultaneous raids are underway at locations in Bhubaneswar, Baripada, Dharmasala in Jajpur district and Baliguda in Kandhamal district.
Vigilance department records detail Behera’s long career arc in state service. He joined government service in 1999 as a junior engineer (civil) at Nabarangpur block with a monthly salary of Rs 6,000.
He was promoted to the post of assistant engineer in October 2016 and subsequently posted at ITDA, Nabarangpur. In February 2026, he was promoted as assistant executive engineer and posted at ITDA, Baliguda, where he continues to serve.
In a separate anti-corruption operation in Cuttack district, Vigilance sleuths arrested Dharma Niranjan Chaudhury, a Lineman-A of the Narsinghpur Electrical Section under TPCODL. Chaudhury was caught red-handed while allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a local farmer.
According to officials, the lineman had demanded the money to facilitate the replacement of a dangerously damaged electric pole situated on the complainant’s agricultural land.
