In a significant development against corruption in local self-government works, the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhawanipatna on Saturday, convicted two retired engineers of Khadial Notified Area Council (NAC) in Nuapada district and a contractor for misappropriation of government funds.
The convicts are:
- Umesh Chandra Tripathy, Former Assistant Engineer (Retired), NAC Khadial
- Jayanta Narayan Panda, Former Junior Engineer (Retired), NAC Khadial
- Prasanna Kumar Mahana, Contractor
All three were charge-sheeted by Odisha Vigilance under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Sections 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. The case relates to misappropriation of government money in connection with road improvement and cement concrete (CC) works executed in the Khadial NAC area.
The Court sentenced each of the three convicts to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three years and also imposed a fine.
Following the conviction, Odisha Vigilance has announced that it will move the competent authority for stoppage of pension of the two retired engineers — Umesh Chandra Tripathy and Jayanta Narayan Panda.
