Bhubaneswar: A works department executive engineer, who was detained by Odisha vigilance on Monday for allegedly amassing ill-gotten assets, went to extraordinary lengths to conceal evidence, including burying land documents linked to his properties in the house of a trusted contractor, officials disclosed on Tuesday.The accused, Arabinda Mohanty, who was posted in Mayurbhanj district, was arrested on Tuesday following searches at multiple locations linked to him.Vigilance officials said they discovered that documents relating to several plots allegedly owned by Mohanty and his family members had been hidden underground at the residence of a contractor in Balasore district.Vigilance personnel raided the contractor’s house on Monday evening. During questioning, the contractor allegedly admitted to concealing the records by burying them underground. “We recovered documents relating to 20 plots linked to Mohanty and his family members after digging a place in the contractor’s house,” said a vigilance official.Officials said Mohanty allegedly owns a total of 23 plots in Balasore district. They also claimed to have unearthed a benami bank locker, opened in the contractor’s name but allegedly operated for Mohanty’s benefit. Cash worth Rs 2.77 lakh and gold ornaments purportedly belonging to the engineer were recovered from the locker, officials said.Vigilance is examining the contractor’s abetment role and is likely to initiate legal action against him for allegedly assisting Mohanty in concealing assets.Searches conducted over the past two days yielded additional recoveries. While about Rs 8 lakh in cash was seized from properties linked to Mohanty on Monday, another Rs 2.5 lakh was recovered from his residence at Balianta on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.Officials said the searches have so far led to detection of two multi-storeyed buildings, a five-acre farmhouse, 23 high-value plots, around 30 gm of gold, bank deposits worth Rs 69.69 lakh and cash totalling Rs 10.57 lakh.“We have arrested him under provisions relating to possession of assets disproportionate to known sources of income. The valuation of the assets and the extent of disproportion are currently being assessed,” said the vigilance official.According to vigilance records, Mohanty joined govt service as a junior engineer at Betanoti in Mayurbhanj district on Aug 4, 1997, with a monthly salary of Rs 5,000. He was elevated to the post of executive engineer only a week before the vigilance action. He is due to retire after two months.According to vigilance records, Mohanty joined govt service as a junior engineer at Betanoti in Mayurbhanj district on Aug 4, 1997, with a monthly salary of Rs 5,000. He was elevated to the post of executive engineer only a week before the vigilance action. He is due to retire after two months.
