Chief Engineer arrested in Odisha for disproportionate assets

Bhubaneswar, Aug 3: Odisha Vigilance today arrested Pravas Kumar Pradhan, the Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Division in Balasore, who was recently promoted to Chief Engineer of the Baitarani Barrage Division in Salapada, Keonjhar. Pradhan is accused of accumulating assets that far exceed his known income sources.

According to a Vigilance release, Pradhan's assets include a five-storey building, a market complex, 85 plots of land, 335 grams of gold, over Rs 78 lakh in deposits, and Rs 11.7 lakh in cash—none of which he could adequately explain. These assets were discovered during simultaneous searches at seven locations in Balasore district.

Among the 85 plots, which have a total sale deed value of Rs 2.70 crore, 80 are located in Jaleswar, four in Delanga, Puri, and one in Sunakania, West Bengal. Vigilance officials estimate that the benchmark value of these plots exceeds Rs 6 crore, with the actual market value likely being higher.

Pradhan, originally from Balasore, began his career as a stipendary engineer in 1994. He served in Mayurbhanj from 1996 to 1999 and subsequently in his home district for three years, where he was promoted to assistant engineer. He then spent a year each in Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj and ten years in the Embankment Division in Aul, Kendrapada, during which he was promoted to assistant executive engineer and later to deputy executive engineer.

In December 2020, Pradhan returned to Balasore as an executive engineer and was promoted to superintending engineer in 2021. He was named chief engineer in July 2024. In his 2023 property statement, Pradhan disclosed only a portion of the 85 plots, omitting details about the buildings.