Junior engineer among two held over graft in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Vigilance department of Odisha today claimed to have arrested two government officials on charges of graft.

Manas Dhala, a Dealing Assistant (junior clerk) at the office of Patamundai Block Education Officer (BEO) in Kendrapara district, has been apprehended by the Odisha Vigilance while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000/ from a teacher for payment of his salary arrears.

The entire bribe money has been recovered from Dhala, said a Vigilance official.

Following the arrest, simultaneous searches were conducted at two locations Dhala to unearth the assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, he added.

Cuttack Vigilance PS case no 9/2023 U/s 7PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered in this regard. The investigation is underway, said the official.

Similarly, Bauribandhu Parida, Junior Engineer at Badamba block in Cuttack district has been apprehended by the Vigilance while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 30, 000 from a contractor to forge the muster roll in connection with a developmental project taken up under the MGNREGA scheme. The entire bribe money has been recovered from the accused, said the official.

Simultaneous searches were conducted at two locations of Parida to unearth assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. During searches, the Vigilance sleuths have recovered Rs 3 Lakh in cash from Parida’s house at Balikuda in Cuttack district. The money has been seized, said the official.

A car (Kia) worth around Rs 15 lakh and documents of a plot worth around Rs 30 lakh were found from the possession of Parida.

Vigilance Cell PS Case No 4/2023 U/s 7PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered in this regard. “Our officials are investigating the case,” said the official.