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New Indian Express
23-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Four officials arrested for embezzling Rs 20 lakh in Rayagada's watershed project funds
BERHAMPUR/JEYPORE: Four officials of the watershed wing in Rayagada district were apprehended on Thursday by the Vigilance for allegedly misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. The arrested officials were identified as assistant project director-cum-project implementing agency (APD-cum-PIA), Rajendra Nath Naik, two soil conservation overseers Jogendra Khosla and Deepak Kumar Sahoo, and soil conservation extension worker, Srikumar Nayak at the office of the project director, watershed in Rayagada. Sources said, the government had sanctioned around Rs 3 core under the MGNREGS for excavating farm ponds in Kashipur block of the district in 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years. However, the vigilance got complaints that the officials misappropriated the funds without digging the farm ponds and embezzled the money. A Vigilance team visited different locations in Kashipur block and found around 23 farm ponds were not constructed and even beneficiaries were not aware that over their farm, ponds had been dug. The accused siphoned off the money to accounts of labourers having job cards and withdrew the same later. The team filed a case against the accused officials on Wednesday for misappropriating government funds of Rs 20 lakh and arrested them on Thursday. They were later produced in a special vigilance court of Jeypore on Thursday evening. Koraput Vigilance division SP RK Panda said, 'We have not found 23 farm ponds during investigation as they spent government funds by showing records and further verification is underway in the case to ascertain any other such misappropriation by these accused persons.'
United News of India
14-05-2025
- United News of India
Odisha Vigilance arrests five forest officials for embezzlement of Govt funds
Bhubaneswar, May 14 (UNI) Odisha Vigilance has arrested five forest department officials for allegedly embezzling government funds amounting to Rs 80 lakh under the "Compensatory Afforestation Scheme" in the Kalahandi South Forest Division during the 2023–24 financial year. According to sources from Odisha Vigilance, an enquiry was initiated based on credible inputs regarding large-scale misappropriation of government funds under the scheme in the Jaipatna Range of Kalahandi Sout Forest Division. A verification of the plantations under the scheme was carried out by four teams comprising 25 officers from Odisha Vigilance. A thorough enumeration was conducted at several plantation sites within the Jaypatna Range. The enumeration revealed significant shortfalls in plantation work and misappropriation of funds at five sites. The investigation further uncovered that the plantation funds had been diverted to multiple fictitious labour accounts and withdrawn shortly afterward. Following the enquiry, prima facie evidence was established against the following forest officials: Sairendri Bag, Deputy Ranger and In-Charge of Jaipatna Range; Umesh Rout and Debraj Sunani, Foresters; and Ashok Kumar Sahu and Lalit Naik, Forest Guards — all posted in Jaipatna Range. They were found to be involved in the misappropriation of Rs79,54,635 by falsifying records and failing to carry out the plantation work during the 2023–24 fiscal year. In this connection, the Koraput Vigilance has registered a case on May 12 under Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended by the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and Sections 316(5), 318(4), 336(3), 340(2), and 61(2) of the BNS against the five officials. All five accused were arrested on Tuesday and produced before the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhawanipatna. The investigation is ongoing. UNI DP ARN
