Khallikote Assistant Engineer caught while taking bribe

Khallikote: Vigilance sleuths arrested an Assistant Engineer of Khallikote Electricity Division while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a lineman. The Assistant Engineer has been identified as Basant Kumar Patnaik.

As per allegation, Patnaik had demanded Rs 20,000 from Bibekananda Naik, a lineman of Keshapur area, to process his transfer application.

The vigilance sleuths had laid a trap after the complainant lodged a complaint in connection with the incident. Subsequently, Patnaik was arrested while accepting the cash from the complainant on the National Highway between Kholikhote and Keshapur.

"He (Basant Kumar Patnaik) used to harass the lineman and had demanded Rs 20,000 from him to process his transfer application. We arrested him while he was taking the bribe on the NH. We also recovered the cash from his possession," said Vigilance SP, Mayadhar Swain.

The anti-corruption agency later conducted a raid on Basant's house in Khallikote and Bhubaneswar. More details are awaited in this connection.