DSP GK Mallick during the raid on executive engineer Kodandadhar Pradhan’s house and (below) valuables seized from the latter’s CDA Sector VI residence. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, May 28: Vigilance sleuths today caught an executive engineer of the general electrical division-I while taking bribe and conducted raids on two other officials in the twin cities.

The engineer has been identified as Kodandadhar Pradhan working with general electrical division-1, Bhubaneswar. He was caught red handed taking Rs 25,000 in cash from an electrical contractor, Manoj Mohapatra, as his rented house at CDA Sector-6 around 9.30am.

According to officials, Pradhan had demanded money from the contractor to clear his outstanding bills amounting to around Rs 7.50 lakh for the works done in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri divisions. The vigilance laid a trap following a complaint from Mohapatra, who had earlier worked with Pradhan.

“Based on the complaint, a case was registered and subsequently the accused was caught accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000,” said vigilance DSP Gautam Kumar Mallick.

The sleuths have also recovered cash worth Rs 3.08 lakh, 10-15gm of gold ornaments, and many documents during the search at Pradhan’s house. “We are looking at a disproportionate assets case as many documents and cash worth over Rs 3 lakh have been recovered during the raid,” said Mallick.

Moreover, the officials raided houses of two government officials, Siba Prasad Das and Salil Sethi, following allegations of property disproportionate to their income. The officials seized documents related to their property worth more than Rs 2 crore.

While Das is an under secretary working with the state housing and urban development department, Sethi is a junior motor vehicle inspector posted at Biramitrapur.

According to the officials, Das had a five-storied building in Unit IX area worth more than Rs 2 crore. The building is rented to a private hostel, where nearly 500 students reside. The officials also found a market complex at Ashok Nagar area and two plots of land at Paikarapur area owned by Das. Similarly, the officials said he possessed buildings in Puri and in Calcutta, the cost of which would be more than Rs 1 crore.

The officials seized cash worth Rs 40,000, gold ornaments valued at Rs 2 lakh and some bank accounts. Vigilance inspector Harinarayan Pati said Das’ property would be more than Rs 4 crore.

The officials also raided houses of Sethi across the state. At Gajapati Nagar, Sethi has a building worth more than Rs 1 crore.