Bhubaneswar: Twenty-five years after a district collector and another govt official, both now retired, allegedly colluded with a transport contractor and misappropriated Rs 9 lakh govt funds, an Odisha vigilance court in Dhenkanal district on Thursday sentenced all three of them to one year of rigorous imprisonment.The convicts were identified as former Dhenkanal collector Nityananda Mohanty (79); former project director (PD) of district rural development agency (DRDA), Dhenkanal, Suryanarayan Das (77) and transport contractor Satyananda Balasamanta (74).According to the Odisha vigilance directorate, the case dates back to 2001-02, when Mohanty, a former IAS officer, was serving as Dhenkanal collector. The prosecution alleged that he, in connivance with Das and Balasamanta, approved transportation charges for rice and wheat that were higher than the rates prescribed by the Odisha Civil Supplies Corporation. The Odisha vigilance registered a case against the trio on March 6, 2003.“The foodgrains were to be transported from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown in Dhenkanal to various block and gram panchayat headquarters under the labour-intensive works programme. However, instead of adhering to the approved transportation rates, higher rates were allegedly accepted on the basis of hand quotations submitted by the contractor,” a senior vigilance official said.Vigilance officials said the irregular approval and payment of the inflated transportation charges resulted in a pecuniary loss of around Rs 9 lakh to the govt. Following the conviction, Odisha vigilance has decided to move the competent authority for stoppage of pension benefits of Mohanty and Das, in accordance with the applicable service rules.