BERHAMPUR: Vigilance officials on Thursday arrested two engineers and a contractor for their alleged involvement in misappropriation of Rs 55.69 lakh in the Pattnaik Tank restoration project under Paralakhemundi municipality in Gajapati district.
The accused are former junior engineer D Yudhistir who is currently serving as assistant engineer of Gunupur municipality, municipal engineer of Paralakhemundi Sanjeev Champati and contractor Surendra Panigrahi.
Officials said the Pattnaik Tank restoration and beautification project was executed between 2019 and 2022 with a budget of `1.22 crore released by the state government under various schemes. The Vigilance launched an investigation after allegations of financial irregularities in execution of the project came to fore in 2023.
Investigation revealed that Yudhistir allegedly recorded inflated and false measurements in the official books for works that were either not executed or carried out below the prescribed standards.
These entries were then reportedly certified during check measurements by Champati, facilitating the release of payments to the contractor.
A technical assessment by the Vigilance found that works worth Rs 55.69 lakh were either not executed or were of substandard quality, resulting in loss to the state exchequer.
Based on the findings, the Berhampur Vigilance division registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 along with relevant sections of the IPC and arrested the three accused. The trio was produced in court.
Vigilance SP Pradeep Pradhan said further investigation is underway.