Odisha Vigilance arrests four more in alleged Rs 9.24 crore fund misappropriation
Odisha Vigilance on Sunday arrested four more persons in connection with the alleged diversion of Rs 9.24 crore in government funds to private bank accounts of associates, officials said.
The arrests took the total number of people apprehended in the case to six.
The Vigilance Department is probing the alleged misappropriation of public money at the office of the Superintending Engineer, Roads and Buildings (R&B) Division-I, Bhubaneswar.
The department has so far found the alleged involvement of six employees of the Superintending Engineer's office.
Section Officer Banalata Mohanty and Junior Assistant Bibhudutta Nayak were arrested on Saturday, while four other employees were apprehended on Sunday.
The latest arrests include two peons and two private data entry operators engaged by Mohanty, officials said.
According to the Vigilance officials, the accused allegedly generated fake sanction orders and bills totalling Rs 9.24 crore during the 2022-23 to 2025-26 financial years.
While genuine bills contained the bank details of authorised beneficiaries, the forged bills allegedly carried substituted account numbers belonging to relatives and associates of the accused, they said.
The department has registered a case against the six accused and others under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Further investigation into the alleged financial irregularities is underway, officials said.
