Odisha Vigilance arrests A Class Contractor, associate for misappropriation of Govt funds

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance arrested a special class contractor Bijay Kumar Agarwal and his power of attorney holder Deepak Kumar Agarwal for alleged misappropriation of government funds in the construction of four hostels for scheduled caste students in Sonepur district.

The duo was absconding from their residences in Balangir district since the enquiry initiated by the Vigilance into the matter. A team of the anti-corruption department apprehended the two accused persons from Rourkela.

The accused duo is being questioned at the Vigilance Cell Division Office in Cuttack in a case registered on August 26 under sections 13(2) r/w 13(1)(a) of PC Amendment Act, 2018 and 406/409/420/120-B of IPC, Odisha Vigilance said in a release today.

Based on inputs about the misappropriation of government funds and substandard work in the construction of four 100-seat hostels in Sonepur district, a Vigilance Technical Wing of Odisha Vigilance recently conducted a technical inspection of four hostel buildings.

During the preliminary surface technical evaluation, the Vigilance sleuths detected large-scale cracks, seepages, low width of roof plaster, use of poor-quality wood materials against prescribed sal wood, use of substandard electrical and sanitary fittings instead of prescribed branded products, and many other defects/deviations resulting in huge loss to the state exchequer.