Bhubaneswar, 06 August (H.S.): The Odisha Vigilance on Thursday arrested three persons, including two government engineers and a private contractor, in connection with alleged financial irregularities amounting to ₹55.69 lakh in the Pattnaik Tank reclamation and renovation project at Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district.
The accused have been identified as former Junior Engineer D. Yudhistir, Municipal Engineer Sanjeev Champati, and contractor Surendra Panigrahi.
According to Vigilance officials, the investigation revealed systematic misappropriation of government funds between 2019 and 2022. A total of ₹1.22 crore was released to the contractor through three running account bills after statutory deductions.
Yudhistir is alleged to have made inflated and false entries in official measurement books for work that was either not executed or carried out in a substandard manner. Champati, during verification, allegedly endorsed these entries as accurate, facilitating full payment to the contractor.
An independent technical assessment conducted by Vigilance confirmed substandard and incomplete work amounting to ₹55.69 lakh, resulting in a direct loss to the state exchequer.
A case has been registered at the Brahmapur Vigilance Police Station under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, along with multiple sections of the IPC, including criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating, and forgery.
All three accused are scheduled to be produced in court on Tuesday. Further investigation is underway, officials said.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda
