Odisha SSA official caught taking bribe, arrested

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Keonjhar, Apr 13:

Vigilance sleuths today arrested an official of the Sarva Sikshya Aviyaan (SSA) in Odisha’s Keonjhar district while he was accepting a bribe from a headmaster of an upgraded upper primary school to provide him with a utilization certificate (UC).

Sudarshan Nayak, a technical consultant of the SSA in Harichandanpur block was caught red handed by Vigilance department officials while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from Shatrughan Pradhan, the headmaster of Dhurudi Amba upgraded upper primary school to issue utilization certificate, Vigilance sources said.

Three toilets were constructed in the Dhurudi Amba upgraded upper primary school in 2013-14 fiscal at a cost of Rs 1.53 lakh. Sudarshan had asked for a bribe of Rs 30,000 from Satrughan to provide UC for the same.

Accordingly, Shatrughan had earlier paid him a bribe of Rs 15,000. However, Sudarshan remained rigid on his demand of Rs 15,000 more. Fed up with Sudarshan’s demands, Shatrughan had contacted Vigilance department officials.

As per the trap laid, Vigilance officials who were hiding nearby pounced on Sudarshan at his residence while he was accepting the additional amount of Rs 15,000 as bribe from the headmaster.