Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance sleuths apprehended four officials from the Watershed Development Department in Rayagada for allegedly embezzling over Rs 20 lakh meant for farm pond excavation under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The accused officials include Rajendra Nath Naik, Assistant Project Director-cum-Project Implementing Agency (Class-1), Jogendra Khosla and Deepak Kumar Sahoo, both Soil Conservation Overseers, and Srikumar Nayak, Soil Conservation Extension Worker.
According to the vigilance department, the accused officials allegedly siphoned off government funds without excavating 23 farm ponds in different villages of the Kashipur Block in Rayagada district.
The investigation revealed that the accused officials had transferred the funds to accounts of labourers with job cards and withdrew the amount. The number of farm ponds involved may increase as the investigation is still underway, particularly in remote and forest areas.
Koraput Vigilance has registered a case against the accused officials, and further investigation is in progress.
