Angul: The Odisha Vigilance officials have arrested two Junior Accountants of the Civil Supplies Office (CSO), Angul, for allegedly demanding and accepting a ₹50,000 bribe to clear a bill in favor of a rice mill.

The accused, Rajnarayan Sahoo and Jiten Patnaik, were caught red-handed while taking the bribe from the rice mill’s manager to release a pending bill of over ₹60 lakh related to fortified rice kernels (FRK).

Per the complainant, the rice mill’s manager, he had been requesting Sahoo and Patnaik for over a month to clear the outstanding payment. However, both Accountants allegedly refused to process the bill without receiving a bribe. Left with no choice, the manager reported the matter to the Vigilance department, citing harassment.

Acting on the complaint, the Vigilance officials set a trap and apprehended both the Accountants while accepting the bribe. The entire amount was recovered and seized.

Officials also launched simultaneous searches at multiple locations linked to Sahoo and Patnaik to investigate possible disproportionate assets.

A case has been registered under the Vigilance Cell PS Case No. 2, dated 03.03.2025, under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. The investigation is going on.