Bhubaneswar: Odisha vigilance on Friday arrested Malkangiri watershed deputy director Santanu Kumar Mohapatra and four of his associates for corruption. On Wednesday, the anti-corruption wing seized Rs 2 crore cash from Mohapatra’s residence at Jeypore in Koraput district.
The other accused have been identified as Mohan Mandal, Biswajit Mandal, Amiyakanta Sahu, and Alekh Pradhan. While Mohan, Biswajit, and Amiyakanta are his subordinate colleagues in the office, Pradhan is a Jan Seva Kendra operator in Ganjam district. The four men allegedly worked together with Mohapatra in misappropriating govt funds by falsely recording various projects as completed.
“Mohapatra was found in possession of disproportionate assets, including a multi-storeyed building, four high-value plots, gold weighing around 422 grams, deposits over Rs 91 lakhs, and cash of Rs 2 crore. He could not explain satisfactorily the sources of the money,” vigilance director Yeshwant Jethwa said.