While the exact valuation of Rath’s assets is being calculated, vigilance officials said it could run into crores

BHUBANESWAR: Days after detecting a large number of plots in the names of two senior engineers and an excise official, the Odisha Vigilance on Monday came across 42 plots and one kg gold allegedly owned by Pradeep Kumar Rath (59), a high-ranking engineer.
Simultaneous searches were conducted at several places on properties linked to Rath, an additional chief engineer of Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC) in Cuttack, on charges of possessing disproportionate assets (DA).While the exact valuation of Rath’s assets is being calculated, vigilance officials said it could run into crores.
The vigilance sleuths have so far unearthed 42 plots in possession of Rath and his family members – 6 in Bhubaneswar, 1 in Cuttack, 4 in Bhadrak, 2 in Dhenkanal and 29 in Jajpur districts. Their total registered sale deed value has been shown as only about Rs 1.36 crore. Vigilance officials said the actual value would be much higher.
The latest revelation takes the number of plots unearthed to 213 in the last 10 days. Vigilance detected 85 plots allegedly in possession of Pravas Kumar Pradhan; 52 with excise joint commissioner Rama Chandra Mishra and 34 said to be belonging to Sunil Kumar Rout.
Pradhan was the chief construction engineer of Baitarani barrage division at Salapada in Keonjhar district while Rout was the chief construction engineer of lower Suktel project.
Vigilance sleuths said Rath possessed about 1 kg gold worth over Rs 62 lakh. “We also found him owing a 3-storied building at Satya Vihar in Bhubaneswar, one flat in Chandrasekharpur area and another in Patrapada locality (both in Bhubaneswar), a 3-storied residential building in Bhadrak and a medicine store in Nayapalli area,” a senior vigilance official said.