Odisha’s Vigilance Directorate on Friday seized assets worth crores, including Rs 2.56 crore in cash, during a search operation at the residence of a state government engineer, one day before his retirement.
According to officials, the engineer tried to dispose of the cash by throwing bundles of Rs 500 notes out of the windows of his flat in Bhubaneswar when he saw Vigilance sleuths approaching.
Vigilance conducted simultaneous searches at properties linked to Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, a chief engineer in the rural development department, at seven locations in Angul, Bhubaneswar and Pipili, officials said. The searches were part of investigations into allegations against him that he possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
According to Vigilance officials, the seized assets include two multi-storey buildings, two flats, seven high-value plots, deposits of Rs 1.5 crore, investment in shares and mutual funds worth Rs 2.7 crore, over 1.1 kg of gold and as many as 15 imported wrist watches.
With the searches continuing, the Vigilance sleuths said more assets are likely to be unearthed.
Vigilance director Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa said, “The assets recovered seem to be disproportionate assets. We conducted searches after receiving reliable information.”
Jethwa said Sarangi had attempted to dispose of the cash by throwing bundles of Rs 500 notes out of the windows of his flat in Bhubaneswar after he saw Vigilance officers approaching. “We recovered all the cash as per the SOP (standard operating procedure) and the probe is going on,” the Vigilance director said.
The chief engineer is likely to be arrested on Saturday, officials said.
According to official records, Sarangi entered government service in 1991 as a stipendiary engineer at a consolidated pay of Rs 2,000 per month. After working in various parts of the state in different positions, he was promoted to the rank of additional chief engineer in January 2023 and chief engineer in February this year.
