Engineer with 85 plots arrested

Bhubaneswar: A senior government engineer was arrested on Saturday in a corruption case after properties that included 85 plots of land and a market complex were found in his possession, officials said.

The chief construction engineer in the Irrigation department, Pravas Kumar Pradhan, was posted in a barrage project in Keonjhar district. In the searches that were conducted in properties linked to him, the engineer was found in possession of disproportionate assets. Among these were a five-storied building, a market complex, 85 plots of land, 335 grams gold, deposits of over Rs 78 lakh and Rs 11.7 lakh in cash. The accused, a native of Balasore district, accumulated such properties within 40 years in service.

Pradhan joined as a stipendiary engineer in 1994. He served in Mayurbhanj district from 1996 to 1999 and next three years in his home district during which he was promoted as an assistant engineer. Thereafter, he served one year each at Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj and 10 years in Embankment Division, Aul, Kendrapara, during which he promoted as assistant executive engineer and deputy executive engineer. In December 2020, he returned to Balasore as executive engineer. He was promoted as superintending engineer in 2021 and chief engineer in July 2024. In his the property statement submitted in 2023, he had mentioned a few of the 85 plots but nothing about the buildings, a Vigilance release said.