Odisha govt acts against 9 corrupt officials

The pension of two other employees were also permanently stopped on charge of corruption, a CMO official said.They comprised one superintending engineer, two executive engineers, two assistant engineers, one junior engineer, one OAS officer, one chief district veterinary officer and one social education officer.With this, the number of tainted officers facing axe of the government increased to 173 since 2019.Ashish Kumar Das, former Superintending Engineer of Rural Development Division-1 of Malkangari was caught by the vigilance while taking Rs 10.23 lakh bribe from contractors.

The Odisha government on Wednesday took strong action against at least nine officials after they were found involved in corruption cases and amassing wealth more than their known sources of income.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while stressing his government's "zero tolerance" to corruption said five officials were given compulsory retirement while two others were dismissed from the service. The pension of two other employees were also permanently stopped on charge of corruption, a CMO official said.

They comprised one superintending engineer, two executive engineers, two assistant engineers, one junior engineer, one OAS officer, one chief district veterinary officer and one social education officer.

With this, the number of tainted officers facing axe of the government increased to 173 since 2019.

Ashish Kumar Das, former Superintending Engineer of Rural Development Division-1 of Malkangari was caught by the vigilance while taking Rs 10.23 lakh bribe from contractors. After raiding his houses in various places, property worth Rs 8.63 crore and cash of Rs 1.4 crore were seized. He has been given compulsory retirement.

Manas Ranjan Mohanty, former Executive Engineer of Bhadrak Rural Development Division-1 was caught by the anti-corruption department while taking a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a contractor. In addition, he was found in possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 3.90 crore. Two departmental investigations were also underway against him. He has been also given compulsory retirement.

Similarly, Manoj Kumar Behera, Executive Engineer of Cuttack Gandarpur Drainage Division, and his wife were accused of having disproportionate assets of more than Rs 4.26 crore. He has been also given compulsory retirement.

Umesh Kumar Shashini, Assistant Engineer of Baitarani Irrigation Division in Salpada, Keonjhar District accused of amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 1.42 crore, has been also given compulsory retirement.

Bishuddhanand Behera, Assistant Engineer of Umerkote Roads and Buildings (R&B) Section, was also accused of doing substandard work along with a corruption charge against him. He allegedly amassed disproportionate assets of Rs 70.93 lakh. He has been given compulsory retirement.

Jaladhar Mallick, retired former Chief District Veterinary Officer (CDVO) of Parlakhemundi, was accused of taking Rs 10,000 bribe to initiate a transfer. His pension has been permanently withheld.

Similarly, Trinath Sethi, a retired former junior engineer of Ganjam District Rural Works Division-2, was convicted in a case of taking a Rs 9,000 bribe. His pension has been permanently withheld.

There was a case of bribery of Rs 10,000 in the name of Sabita Sahu, former Tehsildar of Samakhunta block of Mayurbhanj district, who is now Deputy Collector in Balasore district. She has been dismissed from service.

Former Social Education Officer of Balangir district Prabhasini Babu, who was accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 3,000 from a widow, has been dismissed from service, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)