Berhampur: Odisha State Vigilance on Monday recovered another 703 grams of gold and 375 grams of silver jewellery from the possession of Baikuntha Nath Behera, 52, the assistant executive engineer of Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Baliguda, in Kandhamal district. He was arrested on Sunday for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets to his known sources of income.
With this, the total amount of gold recovered from the possession of the accused went up to 1.25 kg, worth around Rs 1.9 crore, according to vigilance sources. The sleuths found the latest haul of gold and silver ornaments following the search of his fifth locker, operated in the name of his spouse, in a bank in Bhubaneswar. Till Sunday, the sleuths had found disproportionate assets — including 552 gram gold ornaments — amounting to 798% more than his known sources of income.
Apart from the gold, other assets detected in the name of Behera and his family members till Sunday included over Rs 2 crore cash, six multistorey buildings (four of them in Bhubaneswar) with a total area of over 21,000 sq ft, 14 high-value plots, a car, household articles worth Rs 44.35 lakh, and deposits of Rs 45 lakh. He could not explain the sources of the properties satisfactorily, sources said. The total amount of his properties, both movable and immovable, is under calculation. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018, was registered against Behera and his spouse in the vigilance cell, and further inquiry is ongoing.
Career Background
Behera joined government service on August 16, 1999, as a junior engineer (civil) in Nabarangpur district with a monthly salary of Rs 6,000. On February 12 this year, he was promoted to assistant executive engineer and posted at ITDA, Baliguda, in Kandhamal district.
Major Cash Seizures in Odisha
Sources said Behera was the fifth person from whom the vigilance seized more than Rs 1 crore cash in the last two years. The highest recovery of over Rs 4.28 crore cash was from Debabrata Mohanty, deputy director of mines, Cuttack circle, on February 25. This was followed by Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, chief engineer (plan roads) in the rural works department, from whom Rs 2.56 crore was seized on May 30 last year, and Santanu Mohapatra, deputy director, watershed, in Malkangiri, with Rs 2.08 crore seized on February 6, 2025. Another major cash seizure was of Rs 1.43 crore from Ram Chandra Nayak, deputy range officer, Jeypore forest range, in Koraput district on July 25 last year.
