"Officials in Odisha were raided by the vigilance department after it uncovered 85 plots belonging to him and his family."
Following a raid on the superintending engineer of irrigation of Balasore Division, authorities discovered a 5-storey building, a market complex, 85 plots, 218 grams of gold, and ₹11.7 lakh in cash.
Arpit Pattnaik
The state’s water resources department senior engineer, Pravas Kumar Pradhan, was raided by Odisha’s vigilance department after it was discovered that he had amassed disproportionate assets, which included 85 plots. The raid on Pradhan's premises revealed a five-storey building, a market complex, 85 plots, 218 grams of gold, and ₹11.7 lakh in cash. These plots were purchased by Pradhan in different years in his name as well as in the names of his family members. The total registered sale deed value of the plots amounts to over ₹2 crore, but it is believed that the actual value could be significantly higher due to undervaluation in government documents. According to YK Jethwa, director of vigilance, the officer has accumulated assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Vigilance officials tracked the accumulation of plots by Pradhan over the last three months. According to the officials, the benchmark value of the plots would be more than ₹6 crore, and the actual market price could be even higher. Out of the 85 plots, 84 are in Odisha, while one is located in Bengal.
Pradhan was promoted as chief engineer of Baitarani Barrage Division at Salapada in Keonjhar, but he has not yet assumed charge. Earlier this week, another officer was also raided by the vigilance department.
