Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance has arrested a Section Officer and a Junior Assistant of the Office of the Superintending Engineer, R&B Division-I, Bhubaneswar for diversion of public funds to the tune of over Rs 9.24 crore.
On the basis of verification and enquiry into allegations of misappropriation, Vigilance registered a case relating to embezzlement of government funds amounting to Rs 9,24,10,193 at the Office of the Superintending Engineer (SE), Roads & Buildings Division-I, Bhubaneswar.
During investigation, it was revealed that between FY 2022-23 and FY 2025-26, accused Banalata Mohanty, Section Officer, and Bibhudutta Nayak, Junior Assistant, both attached to the Establishment Section of the SE Office, in conspiracy with unknown associates, fraudulently generated fake sanction orders and bills.
These bills pertained to provisional gratuity, unutilized leave salary in the names of retired employees, and fake claims against the office contingency fund. These fraudulent bills were illegally processed in the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) to siphon off government money.
While genuine bills carried authentic beneficiary bank details, the forged bills contained substituted bank account numbers belonging to relatives and acquaintances. A total of 77 bank accounts belonging to 48 individuals, including the son and driver of Banalata Mohanty and brothers and relatives of Bibhudutta Nayak, were used to receive the misappropriated funds.
The account holders subsequently transferred money back to the primary accused or withdrew cash to hand over to them. After detection of the embezzlement and initiation of enquiry, Rs 3.96 crore has been recovered by the administrative authority.
In this connection, Bhubaneswar Vigilance PS registered against Mohanty, Nayak and others under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Sections 16(5)/318(4)/336(3)/338/340(2)/61(2) of the BNS, 2023. Investigation is underway.
