Bhubaneswar, May 22: In a major crackdown on corruption, Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday arrested four officials from the Watershed Development Department in Rayagada district for allegedly embezzling over Rs 20 lakh earmarked for farm pond excavation under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

The arrested officials include Rajendra Nath Naik, Assistant Project Director-cum-Project Implementing Agency (Class-I), Jogendra Khosla and Deepak Kumar Sahoo, both Soil Conservation Overseers, and Srikumar Nayak, a Soil Conservation Extension Worker.

According to the Vigilance Department, the officials fraudulently diverted funds meant for the excavation of 23 farm ponds across various villages in Kashipur Block. Investigations revealed that the money was transferred to the accounts of job card-holding labourers, and later withdrawn without executing any actual work.

“The funds were misappropriated without any physical excavation of the ponds. This points to a deliberate and organized scam,” said a vigilance officer.

Koraput Vigilance has registered a case, and officials say that the number of unexcavated ponds could increase as the probe continues, particularly in remote and forested areas. Further investigation is underway to identify any additional complicity.

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