Odisha's Vigilance department has moved in on Anupama Sahu, an Assistant Executive Engineer with the Kendrapara Drainage Division, after linking her to a bribery racket built around clearing contractors' pending bills. Across a single sweep, officials have recovered more than Rs 7 lakh in cash from her.
A tip-off sets the Vigilance machinery in motion
On September 5, 2026, Vigilance received information from reliable sources that money was being collected at the Kendrapara Drainage Division office in exchange for clearing contractors' pending bills. Complaints of officials deliberately holding up contractor payments to extract bribes are not uncommon in government departments, and it was against this backdrop that Vigilance decided to act swiftly. Treating the input as credible, a team was deployed to track Sahu's movements.
Highway checkpoint yields Rs 3.15 lakh in cash
The team intercepted Sahu's vehicle on NH-53A near the Marshaghai crossing. She was travelling from her office to her residence in the Nayanvihar area of Kendrapara at the time, riding in an official vehicle bearing registration OD-29-S-6644. A search of the vehicle turned up cash worth Rs 3 lakh 15 thousand. She could not offer the team a satisfactory explanation for carrying such a large sum. With no convincing answer forthcoming, Vigilance suspected the money had been earned through illegal means, and both the cash and the vehicle were seized on the spot.
House search turns up another Rs 4 lakh
Following the highway recovery, Vigilance opened a disproportionate-assets angle into the case. In such probes, investigators typically cross-check a suspect's declared income against the salary, bank balances, property and cash actually in their possession. Acting on this, the team extended its search to Sahu's office and residential premises. A search of her house in Kendrapara turned up an additional Rs 4 lakh in cash, deepening the case against her. Should the investigation establish that the assets are disproportionate to her known income, it could pave the way for further departmental and legal action against her.
Total recovery crosses Rs 7 lakh as questioning continues
Adding up the cash found in the vehicle and at her home, the total recovery in the case now stands at Rs 7 lakh 15 thousand. Vigilance officers are working to pin down exactly where such a large amount of cash came from. Sahu is being questioned repeatedly so that she can account for the money and so that investigators can uncover any other details connected to the case. The search and investigation are still underway, meaning more facts could surface in the coming days. In a separate case reported recently, police who had gone to Puri to seize cannabis instead found a house stacked with such a large pile of currency notes that a counting machine had to be brought in to tally it.
