Bhubaneswar, Sept. 30: A vigilance court here today convicted a senior officer of the state-run Odisha Hydro Power Corporation Limited and his wife in connection with a case of disproportionate assets registered against them in 2004.
Special vigilance judge Balakrushna Mohapatra convicted the company's former deputy general manager (finance) Dilip Mohanty and awarded jail term of three years, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10 lakh after finding evidence of his ill-gotten property, worth over Rs 42 lakh.
At present, Mohanty is working as manager (finance) in the same corporation.
The court also convicted Dilip's wife, Krushnapriya Mohanty, and awarded her one-year imprisonment besides slapping a fine of Rs 50,000. "His wife owns a hotel in Puri with her husband's money. She was also booked in the disproportionate assets case as she knew about the illegal activities of her husband," said special public prosecutor Sunil Pati.
Vigilance sleuths had raided Mohanty's residence at Chandrasekharpur and his wife's hotel in Puri on December 28, 2004, and found properties worth Rs 1.78 crore.
Further investigation by the vigilance revealed that Mohanty had amassed properties worth Rs 42 lakh disproportionate to his known sources of income. Mohanty, who started working with the corporation in 1982, allegedly amassed the ill-gotten property between 1998 and 2004, vigilance sources said.
The vigilance has also moved the court, seeking confiscation of the properties. On the other hand, Mohanty said he would move the higher court challenging the decision. "We are yet to get the copy of the court's order," he said.
Statistics revealed that as many as 285 vigilance cases had been registered in 2013, and the number of cases increased to 368 by December 23 last year. Similarly, the directorate executed 112 traps in 2013, which increased to 160 in 2014. While cases were registered against 48 Class-I officials in 2013, the number went up to 65 in 2014.
Sarathi in jail
Sarathi baba alias Santosh Raula was sent to jail after being produced before the SDJM court in Cuttack today. After the hearing, Raul has been sent to jail till October 13 as he didn't appeal for a bail.
