“No bribe, no work” – was the policy of Dr Rajendra Narayan Panigrahi, an officer of the Port Health Organisation (PHO), Paradip Port, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the charges of graft on Thursday. A day after his arrest, many shipping agents victimized by him, alleged that the doctor was delaying the work to extract money or costly gifts from shipping agents, crew members, or whoever came to him for official work.
They also stated that the doctor would not work without any bribe in the form of costly gifts and cash in return for providing COVID clearance to crew members and shipping agents. All alleged that Dr Panigrahi was more interested in acquiring wealth than discharging his duties.
Soubhagya Majhi, a shipping agent, lamented, “In August, we had produced all necessary documents for Covid clearance. But Dr Panigrahi deliberately delayed the process and made us run to the PHO several times. He also demanded documents that were completely redundant. Finally, he gave me hints that all companies are offering gifts for their work while my company was not doing so.”
Later the doctor instructed Majhi to arrange the so-called gift.
Another shipping agent, Manoranjan Sahu, said, "The doctor usually asks for unnecessary documents on the pretext of verification and scrutiny. He would make the crew members and captains run to the office. People become upset over inordinate delay of their work and finally, they have to satisfy the doctor with gifts to get their work done.”
Similarly, Samarjit Biswal, a former employee of a shipping company, alleged that the doctor had acquired massive wealth through illegal gratification. “The cash and property detected by the CBI is nothing but the tip of an iceberg. If properly investigated, more property will be recovered,” Biswal suggested.
The CBI had allegations against Panigrahi of accepting bribes from crew members of shipping companies. On Thursday, CBI officials caught him red-handed while he was accepting Rs 54,000 from crew members of the Eminence Shipping Agency. Later, the CBI carried out raids on multiple locations linked to the doctor.
The officials have unearthed huge moveable and immovable property at Praradip, Balasore, Cuttack, and Hyderabad. Wads of cash worth Rs 17 lakh, US Dollars worth over Rs 17 lakh, imported liquor and cigarettes, hard disks, and costly gifts have been seized from his official residence. Interestingly, the CBI has also found huge cash stashed inside the toilet of his rented house in Paradip.
CBI official Bikash Kumar said, "The central investigating agency suspects that more people could be assisting the doctor in his activities on which the investigation is on." The doctor could be taken into custody for interrogation, sources said.