The Odisha vigilance officers have arrested three Class I officers after unaccounted cash of Rs 22.61 lakh was reportedly recovered from their possession.

Bidhan Chandra Sahu, a superintending engineer (irrigation), Prakash Kumar Mohapatra of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board at Rourkela and regional officer Narottam Behera of the State Pollution Control Board were arrested. All of them were sent to judicial custody on Sunday, following rejection of their bail pleas.

A team of vigilance officers arrested Sahu at N.C. College Road in Jajpur town while he was heading to Cuttack in his office vehicle on Saturday.

During interception, a sum of over Rs 10 lakh was recovered from Sahu and Rs 64,000 was found from his residential house in Cuttack.

Vigilance sleuths also held regional officer Prakash Kumar Mohapatra of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board at Rourkela on Saturday and seized Rs 1.75 lakh from him. He could not account for the amount satisfactorily.

The vigilance officers held another regional officer Narottam Behera of the State Pollution Control Board on Saturday. The officer based at Balasore was arrested while he was heading to Bhubaneswar.

Getting a tip off that the officer was carrying huge cash with him, the officers laid a trap at Tangi check gate on the outskirts of Cuttack.

During interception, a sum of Rs 89,290 was recovered from Behera. Later, Rs 9.25 lakh was found from Behera’s residential house at Satyanagar, Bhubaneswar.