Crorepati Tehsil office driver in Vig net; lecturer, fire official caught taking bribe

Paradip: Vigilance officials raided the houses of a driver engaged at Kujang Tehsil office in Jagatsinghpur district yesterday on charges of acquisition and possession of property disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Acting on a tip-off, the anti-graft officials conducted simultaneous raids on the official residence of driver Saishab Mandal at Kujanga, a three-storey building at Tarinigad here and his in-law’s house at Bagadia. During the raid, the Vigilance seized a four-wheeler, gold, a motor-cycle and hard cash from the three-storey building at Tarinigad. Total movable and immovable property worth Rs Rs 1.14 crore were detected during the search, sources said.

In a similar incident, Vigilance officials raided the office and houses of pharmacist Sanjib Pati at Rangamatia Community Health Centre (CHC) in Mayurbhanj district for allegedly amassing property disproportionate to his known sources of income. The team raided his house and a four storied building at Tulasichaura in Baripada Town and his office on the CHC premises simultaneously.

In another incident, a lecturer and a fire brigade official were caught taking bribe in Nimapada of Puri district and Jharsuguda, respectively.

Sources said senior lecturer Manas Ranjan Swain of Geography Department at Nimapara College was caught taking Rs 10,000 from a student to give additional marks in a practical exam. An eight-member team of the anti-corruption wing later raided his house at Nimapara Golei Chhak.

Similarly, Vigilance arrested Chaitanya Sethy, a fire brigade official of Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda , for taking bribe to issue a certificate for a gutted pickup van.