A Vigilance Court in Baripada convicted five individuals on Monday for embezzling government funds amounting to Rs. 1,14,26,194, associated with the Deo Irrigation Project’s earth dam and truncated spillway construction.
The individuals convicted include Ashok Kumar Mohapatra, the former executive engineer (retired), Pradeep Kumar Panda, the former senior divisional accounts officer (retired), Baikuntha Nath Naik, the former junior clerk-cum-auditor (retired), and Sankara Narayan, the Project Director of M/s B. Engineers and Builders.
Each was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 50,000. Tushar Mishra, the Managing Director of M/s B. Engineers and Builders, who did not appear in court, is now facing a non-bailable warrant.
The case, which involved the misappropriation of funds designated for the construction of an earth dam and truncated spillway for the Deo Irrigation Project, was investigated by Odisha Vigilance under the leadership of Bijaya Kumar Mallick, former Inspector, Balasore Division, and prosecuted by Santanu Kumar Das, Special Public Prosecutor, Vigilance, Baripada.
Post-conviction, Odisha Vigilance intends to petition for the cessation of pensions for Mohapatra, Panda, and Naik.
