Engineer caught with Rs 3.15 lakh cash

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Sunday arrested a woman Assistant Executive Engineer in Kendrapada district after she was allegedly found carrying ill-gotten cash worth lakhs following the interception of her official vehicle. The accused, Anupama Sahoo, is presently posted as the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), Drainage Division, of Kendrapada district.

The Vigilance sources revealed that a team of Odisha Vigilance on Saturday intercepted accused Sahoo at Marshaghai Crossing, on National Highway 53-A, while she was on her way to her residential house at Nayan Vihar in Kendrapada from her office in an office vehicle. Following the interception, the anti-corruption sleuths searched and recovered suspected ill-gotten cash of Rs 3.15 lakh from Sahoo’s possession.

The Vigilance sources further added that the accused, Sahoo, could not satisfactorily account for the huge amount of cash recovered from her possession. “The above amount, along with the vehicle, was seized. Following the interception, simultaneous searches were conducted at the residential building of Sahoo located at Nayan Vihar, Kendrapada and her office chamber at Kendrapada,” Odisha Vigilance sources informed.

During the search of the accused’s house in Kendrapada, the Vigilance officials recovered and seized Rs 4 lakh in cash. With this recovery, the total amount of cash seized in the case has gone up to Rs 7.15 lakh. The police also found her in possession of one flat in Bhubaneswar, one MS Rod and Cement Godown at Market Complex at Kamakshyanagar in Dhenkanal and one shop at Balangir, five plots, including one on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, three in Anugola district, and one in Dhenkanal district. The Vigilance officials also unearthed deposits worth Rs 63 lakh.

In connection with the matter, a case (35/26) has been registered at Kataka Vigilance police station against AEE Sahoo under Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. In line with the State government’s zero-tolerance approach to corruption in government offices, the Odisha Vigilance has continued its crackdown on corrupt officials and employees, arresting several accused persons in connection with bribery and other corruption-related cases during the last couple of years.

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