Flats, gold unearthed from retired engineer

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Vigilance department on Monday unearthed assets worth crores of rupees from a retired engineer, including 1.5 kg of gold, Rs 2.70 crore in deposits, luxury cars and 10 prime flats.Officials identified the retired engineer as Tara Prasad Mishra of Public Works department.

Acting on a tip-off, the Vigilance teams launched simultaneous raids at nine locations in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Jharsuguda involving 12 DSPs, 12 inspectors, 16 ASIs and additional staff, officials said.The raids revealed 10 flats in prime locations, seven plots, bank deposits exceeding Rs 2.7 crore, gold weighing 1.5 kg and Rs 6 lakh in cash. Additionally, officials discovered branded wristwatches, including a Rolex valued at Rs 13 lakh, two luxury cars (Mercedes Benz and KIA Seltos) and Rs 80 lakh spent on the engineer’s daughter’s medical education.The investigation also uncovered foreign currencies from the US, Thailand, Vietnam, the UAE, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia and Singapore.

Further searches are going on and additional deposits and investments in shares and mutual funds are being evaluated.

On August 6, the Vigilance sleuths had arrested a senior government engineer for allegedly amassing assets, including 45 land plots, disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Assets, including two multi-storeyed buildings, two flats in Bhubaneswar, 45 plots, approximately 1 kg of gold, deposits of over Rs 1.62 crore, two cars and others, were found in possession of Pradeep Kumar Rath, Additional Chief Engineer of Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC).He was posted at the office of the Chief Construction Engineer, R&B Cuttack Circle.

Odisha’s Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan had said that the State government would take stringent action against the corrupt officials.