Bhubaneswar: Vigilance sleuths today arrested JE Amiya Kumar Panda in Sadar Block of Puri for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 7000 from a contractor for preparing bill of a construction work.
The contractor Ranjit Lenka had been allotted construction work of an ‘akhada’ at Lokanath Road in Puri and Rs two lakh had been sanctioned under MLA Local Area Development fund during 2016-17.
Panda had received the work file on May 26, 2017 for supervision of the work and Lenka had started the construction work, by spending Rs 25,000 from his pocket, on May 30, 2017 as per the former’s instruction.
However, Panda had demanded Rs 10,000 from Lenka to take measurement of the work and prepare the bill, which he later reduced to Rs 7000.
Lenka reported the matter to SP, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar Division and a trap was laid as per which Lenka met the accused JE in his office room at Sadar Block office, Puri and handed over the bribe money of Rs 7,000.
Vigilance sleuths caught Panda red-handed while accepting the money and arrested him on the spot.
Meanwhile, search operations by vigilance are conducted at parental house of Panda in Bhubaneswar and at his father-in-law’s house in Puri, said sources.