‘Crorepati’ engineer held on retirement day

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance arrested chief engineer Baikuntha Nath Sarangi on the last day of his service on Saturday for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. He was arrested a day after Rs 2.56 crore in cash was recovered and several immovable assets were detected during search operations on his premises.

Sarangi was scheduled to retire on May 31 after 34 years of service in the State government as an engineer in Rural Works department. The Vigilance team had raided seven places linked to Sarangi on Friday.  When the Vigilance sleuths reached his residence in Bhubaneswar, he had attempted to dispose of bundles of Rs 500 notes by throwing them out of the window of his flat.

Apart from Rs 2.56 crore cash, the engineer was found in possession of two multi-storeyed buildings, two flats, seven high-value plots, bank deposits worth Rs 1.5 crore.