Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), Aug 3: Odisha Vigilance today arrested Pravas Kumar Pradhan, the Superintending Engineer of Irrigation for Balasore Division, who was recently promoted to Chief Engineer of the Baitarani Barrage Division at Salapada in Keonjhar. He is accused of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
According to a Vigilance release, Pradhan’s alleged disproportionate assets include a five-storey building, a market complex, 85 plots, 335 grams of gold, deposits exceeding Rs 78 lakh, and Rs 11.7 lakh in cash, which he could not account for satisfactorily.
These assets were uncovered during simultaneous searches at seven locations in Balasore district. Among the 85 plots, valued at Rs 2.70 crore in sale deeds, 80 are located in Jaleswar, four in Delanga, Puri, and one in Sunakania, West Bengal.
Vigilance officials tracked the purchases of these plots over the last three months. “If we consider the benchmark value of these plots, they would exceed Rs 6 crore, with the actual market price likely being higher,” noted a Vigilance official.
A native of Balasore, Pradhan began his career as a stipendary engineer in 1994. He served in Mayurbhanj from 1996 to 1999 and then in his home district for three years, where he was promoted to Assistant Engineer. His subsequent postings included Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, and a decade in the Embankment Division, Aul, Kendrapada, during which he advanced to Assistant Executive Engineer and Deputy Executive Engineer.
In December 2020, Pradhan returned to Balasore as Executive Engineer, was promoted to Superintending Engineer in 2021, and became Chief Engineer in July 2024.
