Odisha doctor convicted in graft case

Bhubaneswar: A doctor at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) in Odisha’s Bhadrak was sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment in a graft case registered against him in 2014.

A Special Vigilance Court in Cuttack awarded the punishment to Karunakar Rout, the medical officer at Jajpur DHH, after convicting him in the case.

The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on Rout. Non-payment of the penalty amount will invite imprisonment for additional six months for the convict, said the court.

The Vigilance department had registered a case against Rout under various Sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 for demanding and accepting bribe from a contractual health worker to show undue favour towards him during his posting as the medical officer at Madhuban Community Health Centre (CHC) in Jajpur.

The Vigilance department will move the competent authority for dismissal of Rout from service following his conviction in the graft case, said an official of the anti-corruption body.