Bribery cuffs on two Odisha govt officials, simultaneous raids by Vigilance underway

The Vigilance sleuths apprehended two Odisha government officials from Pattamundai in Kendrapara district and Narasinghapur in Cuttack district on bribery charges on Thursday.

While the anti-corruption wing apprehended Manas Dhal, a dealing assistant (junior clerk) at Pattamundai Block Education Officer’s office in Kendrapara for accepting Rs 10,000 bribe from a teacher, Badamba block junior engineer Bauri Bandhu Parida was caught by the sleuths while allegedly accepting Rs 30,000 bribe from a contractor.

According to sources, Dhal was taking Rs 10,000 bribe to clear the drawl of the teacher's arrear salary pending more than a year. Similarly, Parida had demanded and accepted Rs 30,000 bribe from the contractor to pass a bill, He was arrested at his official residence while accepting the bribe, sources informed.

The Vigilance has also recovered the entire bribe money from the two accused Odisha government officials.

Following the trap, the Vigilance launched simultaneous searches at two locations associated with Dhal on disproportionate asset (DA) angle. 

Besides, simultaneous searches are on at three places associated with Parida, sources in Vigilance informed.

Further investigation into the matter is on.