IAS officer arrested by Odisha Vigilance for taking bribe, suspended

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance today arrested IAS officer Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs one lakh to pass a bill.

The 2009-batch IAS officer is currently serving as the Director of Horticulture, Odisha Government.

As per reports, the State government received complaints from different people alleging that officials of the Horticulture department were involved in taking bribe during the ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme. Some complainants even pointed fingers towards the Horticulture Director. Subsequently the government asked the Horticulture Directorate to take appropriate action.

In the meantime, the sleuths kept a tab on activities at the Horticulture Directorate since past 10 days. However, the Vigilance has not issued any official statement in connection with the raid till yet.

The bureaucrat’s office, residence and other places were searched by the anti-corruption agency officials following his arrest.

Vigilance sleuths have carried out simultaneous searches at the IAS officer’s ancestral house in Balasore, official residence and office in Bhubaneswar, father-in-law’s residence and brother’s house. Sources said two more teams of Vigilance have been sent to help in the raid.

Bijay Ketan also served as Collector of Kalahandi and Jagatsinghpur districts. He had worked as joint secretary of Water Resources and Health departments.

Following Bijay Ketan’s arrest, Odisha government suspended him with immediate effect.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said “Transparency is an important pillar of this government and we will not spare anyone indulging in corrupt practice.”