CBI quizzes office staff of arrested health officer Rajendra Panigrahy in Odisha’s Paradip

Paradip: A team of sleuths from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today questioned the office staff of earlier arrested health officer Rajendra Narayan Panigrahy, in connection with a graft case. Panigrahy works in the Port Health Organization (PHO) in Paradip town of Jagatsinghpur district.

The anti-corruption agency verified several documents in Panigrahy’s office, an official said.

Panigrahy was previously arrested by the CBI. He had gifted a three-bedroom flat worth around Rs 80 lakh to his mother with bribe money in Nayapalli of Bhubaneswar, investigating sleuths suspect.

This came to the fore during a detailed probe into the alleged disproportionate assets (DA) charge. The health officer purchased the flat from a builder by making a cash payment. The builder would likely be quizzed in this connection soon. Houses of Panigrahy’s relatives were also recently raided.

It is pertinent to mention, the doctor was nabbed on October 12 by CBI sleuths while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 at his office near Bhuian Chhak in Paradip town of Jagatsinghpur district.

Following this, simultaneous house searches were carried out at different locations associated with Panigrahy. He had accepted the bribe amount from an agent of the Eminence Shipping Company.

Panigrahy accepted the bribe for checking the health condition of crew members of a ship. He used to often demand bribes from crew members of most of the ships coming to Paradip to issue reports.

The CBI probe team had previously seized foreign currency notes (Dollars), imported liquors and cigars from the possession of the health officer, following which the probe was intensified.