BHUBANESWAR: Vigilance on Sunday arrested assistant executive engineer Baikuntha Nath Behera for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets (DA) to the tune of 798 per cent of his known sources of income.
Behera, currently posted at ITDA office in Kandhamal’s Baliguda, could not provide a satisfactory response to the anti-corruption agency on how he managed to amass such huge wealth, said sources.
“A case was registered against Behera and his spouse, who is a housewife. He was arrested and produced before a court on Sunday,” said a Vigilance officer.
The agency had raided Behera’s property on Saturday during which he and his family members were found in possession of five buildings in Bhubaneswar and one in Dharmasala, besides 14 plots including eight in Bhubaneswar, five in Jajpur and one in Baripada.
The anti-corruption agency’s officers also traced gold ornaments weighing 552 gm and deposits to the tune of Rs 45 lakh. Over Rs 2 crore cash maintained by Behera in various bank lockers in the capital and another Rs 2 lakh from his house in Patia were seized.
Behera had joined government service in August, 1999 as a junior engineer (civil) and was posted at Nabarangpur block with an initial salary of Rs 6,000. After serving in various capacities, he was promoted to assistant executive engineer in February this year and has been working in Baliguda since.
