Watershed officer stole workers’ wages: Vigilance

MALKANGIRI/JEYPORE: Vigilance officials on Thursday took Malkangiri Watershed deputy director Santanu Mohapatra to Bhubaneswar for inventory of his locker at SBI’s Kapilaprasad branch, a day after seizing Rs 1.98 crore cash from his palatial house at Jeypore.

Official sources said Mohapatra and his colleagues are suspected to have siphoned off government funds by manipulating work completion records and making payments to the accounts of labourers which were subsequently withdrawn and misappropriated.

The Vigilance has already recovered a large number of passbooks of labourers during searches at the residences of data entry operator in Malkangiri Watershed office Biswajit Mandal and contractual employee Amiyakanta Sahu. It appears that the labourers’ bank accounts were being operated by these functionaries to smoothly carry out withdrawal and misappropriate government funds, said officials.

All files connected to works shown completed in the last two years are being scrutinised. A separate inquiry has been launched in this regard. This apart, inquiry has revealed that one Alekh Chandra Pradhan, who is operating a Jan Seva Kendra at Jagannathprasad in Ganjam, was acting as a conduit of Mohapatra in collection of bribes, they said.

Pradhan was reportedly collecting bribes online from contractors and others on behalf of Mohapatra. He was later transferred the money to the deputy director. Evidence of transfers done by Pradhan to the tune of more than Rs 1 crore from 2019 to 2024 has been gathered during the raids. His location was searched on the day and he is being interrogated, said the officials.