Asst engr arrested for illegal assets of Rs 6cr

Berhampur: A day after vigilance sleuths arrested the chief engineer of the rural development department in Bhubaneswar for possession of disproportionate assets of around Rs 15 crore, officers on Sunday arrested an assistant executive engineer, roads and buildings division-1, in Berhampur for allegedly amassing DA of nearly Rs 6 crore.

N Dillip Kumar Choudhury could not satisfactorily reply about the source of his assets, vigilance sources said. Choudhury was arrested for possession of illegal assets which were 119% more than his known sources of income, vigilance said.

During searches in Berhampur and Bhubaneswar on Saturday, sleuths found a double-storey building in Berhampur (Rs 1 crore), two high-valued flats at Bhubaneswar and Berhampur (Rs 1.50 crore), 11 plots in and around Berhampur (Rs 2 crore), bank and insurance deposits (Rs 29.98 lakh), vehicles and household articles (Rs 16.21 lakh), among others.

Sources said Choudhury had joined the service on July 17, 2003, as a junior engineer on contract and posted in rural works department, Paralakhemundi, Gajapati district. His service was regularised on July 16, 2009, and he was posted in the roads and buildings division, Paralakhemundi, In 2018, he was promoted to the rank of assistant engineer. In 2021, he was posted as an assistant engineer in his current division and promoted to the rank of assistant executive engineer (AEE) on March 26, the sources said.