Bhubaneswar: In a major anti-corruption drive, the Odisha Vigilance arrested two engineers of Kotagarh Block in Kandhamal district for allegedly misappropriating more than Rs 42 lakh in funds under the MGNREGA scheme.
The arrested persons have been identified as Prasanta Kumar Patra, Assistant Engineer (AE), and Prafulla Kumar Behera, Junior Engineer (JE) of Kotagarh Block. They were arrested on Tuesday night and will be forwarded to court today.
The arrests stem from serious allegations of financial irregularities in the execution of development works, particularly the Amrit Sarovar (Pond) project and other allied works under Dharakote Gram Panchayat. The scam allegedly took place over a three-year period between 2023-24 and 2025-26.
According to the Vigilance probe, official records showed that Rs 49.83 lakh had been released and paid for the projects. However, a joint physical verification and the technical evaluation revealed that the work actually executed on the ground was worth a meagre Rs.7,42,357.
This resulted in a misappropriation of over Rs 42 lakh by the accused engineers.
The investigation also found that mandatory digital geo-tagging of the project sites at various stages — a compulsory requirement under MGNREGA guidelines — was never done.
A case has been registered at Berhampur Vigilance Police Station (Case No. 06/2026) against the accused under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
