Face2News/Bhubaneswar,(Odisha)
An Assistant Executive Engineer in Odisha has been arrested after a massive vigilance raid revealed assets worth several crores that are allegedly disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The accused, Baikunthanath Behera, is posted with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) in Baliguda, Kandhamal district. According to officials, Behera had started his govt career with a monthly salary of just ₹6,000 but allegedly amassed enormous wealth over the years.
Acting on complaints regarding disproportionate assets, the Odisha Vigilance Department conducted simultaneous raids on Friday at multiple locations linked to Behera in Bhubaneswar, Jajpur, Baripada and Kandhamal districts.
During the searches, vigilance officials recovered:
₹2.4 crore in cash Approximately 500 grams of gold Bank deposits worth around ₹45 lakh . Five multi-storey buildings, including four in Bhubaneswar Fourteen plots of land Officials had to bring in currency-counting machines to tally the huge amount of cash recovered during the operation.
Following the raids, Behera was arrested by the Odisha Vigilance Department. Authorities are currently assessing the market value of the seized properties, which is expected to run into several crores of rupees.
Officials described the case as one of the biggest disproportionate assets cases investigated by Odisha Vigilance in recent years.
