Bhubaneswar, Oct 23 An Odisha government engineer was arrested on Friday after searches at seven locations unearthed three multi-storey buildings, a farmhouse, three high-value plots and nearly 750 grams of gold, officials said.
Tapan Sethi, an assistant executive engineer (AEE) in the Roads and Buildings Department in Badachana sub-division of Jajpur district, was arrested in a disproportionate assets case following allegations that he had amassed wealth beyond his known sources of income, they said.
During searches in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Badachana, vigilance officials found three multi-storey buildings in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack, a farmhouse in Cuttack, three high-value plots in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, and 747 grams of gold, they added.
The searches also led to the discovery of bank and postal deposits worth nearly Rs 21 lakh, two cars, two motorcycles and other household assets.
A case was registered against Sethi at the Cuttack Vigilance Cell police station under the Prevention of Corruption Act, following which he was arrested, officials said.
Sethi joined the Odisha government service in 1997 as a junior engineer (civil) with an initial monthly salary of Rs 5,000. He was promoted to assistant engineer in 2018 and to AEE in 2022.
He has been serving as an AEE in the Badachana sub-division since October 2023, officials said.
(PTI News)
