Hans News Service Bhubaneswar

TheOdisha Vigilance department on Wednesday unearthed multiple assets, including a farmhouse, a palatial building, high-value plots, and bank deposits exceeding Rs 60 lakh, during raids on a senior Irrigation department engineer, officials said. Acting on a tip-off, Vigilance sleuths conducted simultaneous searches at six locations linked to Rajesh Chandra Mohanty, currently serving as Additional Chief Engineer of Central Irrigation Circle.

During the operation, officials unearthed a triple-storeyed residential building at Baramunda Housing Board Colony in Bhubaneswar. A paternal house in Kolhasingh village of Jajpur district and a relative’s residence in Deula Sahi, Jubilee Town in Dhenkanal district were also searched. Raids were further conducted at Mohanty’s office chamber in Bhubaneswar, where he serves as ACE (Dam Safety).

Additionally, a double-storeyed building and a farmhouse spread over approximately 1.71 acres along with another building measuring around 4,000 square feet at Bimbol in Dhenkanal district were inspected. The Vigilance teams also identified five high-value plots, including one in Bhubaneswar and four located in Bimbol and Bhapur areas of Dhenkanal district. Officials stated that the measurement and valuation of the buildings, farmhouse and plots were carried out by the Vigilance Technical Wing.

The raids further led to the seizure of Rs 6.23 lakh in cash, deposits worth over Rs 60 lakh, gold ornaments, flight tickets valued at Rs 13.47 lakh, and two four-wheelers. The total value of assets is likely to increase as the search operation was still underway.

The operation involved a large team comprising one Additional SP, 11 DSP-rank officers, nine inspectors, eight ASIs, and other supporting staff.