A close relative of the jeweller alleged that IT officer Sahoo demanded Rs 40 lakh to hush up and settle the tax issues.
"He demanded Rs 40 lakh to settle the issue. Earlier, we had given him Rs 5 lakh at his residence. He didn't even allow me to enter his house. Now, CBI DSP caught him red-handed while accepting the bribe," said the relative.
Sahoo was brought to the CBI office in Bhubaneswar for further interrogation after he was arrested.
The vigilance sleuths seized the bribed money from Dalua’s possession. Following this, the teams raided the properties of the DSP at eight different locations including his quarters on the premises of the police station to ascertain disproportionate assets.
While answering queries of journalists, Dalua said he is a victim of a conspiracy.
As per the latest information, Dalua’s interrogation is underway at the police station.
Notably, Dalua had recently been promoted from inspector to the rank of DSP and he was to take charge as Rourkela DSP.
In a similar development, the block education officer of Ghatagaon block in Kaonjhar district was also caught red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 15,000.
Abhay Kumar Behera, the arrested BEO, had demanded Rs 90,000 to clear arrears of 33 teachers of 2015 batch. Later the deal was finalized at Rs 60,000.
The vigilance sleuths swooped down on Behera while he was allegedly receiving Rs 15,000 as the first instalment.
Later, the vigilance teams conducted raids at Behera’s office, residence in Jajpur town, and his ancestral properties in Binjharpur.
Paikaray, the investigating officer in the case, had demanded the bribe for adding stringent penal sections and charge sheeting the case, they said. Following the trap, the vigilance conducted a raid on the residential government quarter of the ASI at Reserve Police Colony, Jayadev Vihar, Bhubaneswar.
The vigilance has seized the bribe money in presence of witnesses and registered a case against Paikaray under the Prevention of Corruption Act. She has been arrested and produced before a court, the officials informed.
Last month, the Odisha Vigilance had arrested a police inspector of Nabarangpur district while accepting Rs 20,000 bribe from one person to resolve a family dispute.
The accused has been identified as Poorna Chandra Sahoo.
As per reports, Sahoo was apprehended by the sleuths while accepting bribe of Rs 30,000 from the complainant, the Owner of a computer firm towards release of bill for supply of 10 computers to the office.
The entire bribe money has been recovered from Sahoo.
A case under Bhubaneswar Vigilance P.S has been registered against him.
Further investigation is in progress against Sahoo, informed the department.
The tainted additional Tehsildar has been identified as Sarada Maharana. The officials seized the bribe money from her office.
Acting on the complaint, the officials of anti-corruption wing swooped down on the additional Tehsildar’s office and arrested her.
Sources said, she had received the money from one Ashok Patel.
Following seizure of bribe money, the vigilance team also carried out raid at her residence.
“She had seized my vehicle that was engaged in pond construction work. While we were ready to deposit royalty penalty, she had demanded Rs 60,00,000 as bribe and following negotiations the bribe money was settled at Rs1,20,000,” said Patel.
In her reaction, Maharana said she has been a victim of a conspiracy. “Since vehicles had regularly been fined for transporting construction and other materials illegally, I have been targeted,” she said.
The arrested employee has been identified as Padmanabha Swain. Following his arrest, the sleuths of the anti-corruption wing conducted searches at his Bagudi village residence in Soro locality.
Source said, a Class-I contractor, Rudranarayan Behera, had earlier approached Padmanabha to release his security deposit amounting to Rs 8,67,473. Padmanabha had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from Rudranarayan to get his work done.
With no option left, Rudranarayan had sought the Vigilance department’s intervention. Subsequently a trap was laid. At a pre-decided place, when Padmanabha was receiving the demanded money, the Vigilance sleuths who were waiting in plain cloth swooped down on him.
Nevertheless, a Class-IV employee asking for a bribe of Rs 1 lakh has become the subject of discussion in the locality.
Notably, a supervisor of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) at Sinapali in Nuapada district was arrested by the Vigilance team while receiving a bribe of Rs 80,000 on November 22. Harshamani Dei, the supervisor of ICDS, was receiving the bribe money from one Bikash Ranjan Bag at a place near Sinapali bus stand for appointing him as an Anganwadi worker when she was busted by the Vigilance sleuths.
This was the eighth such incident in three months when an ICDS official or its employee has been found involved in corruption.
As per reports, the ICDS Supervisor identified as Harshamani Dei was nabbed by the vigilance sleuths near the Sinapali bus stand while she was accepting bribe of Rs 80,000 from one Bikash Ranjan Bag for appointing the latter as an Anganwadi worker.
Following the seizure, separate vigilance teams raided her houses at Anlabhatta and Khariar. Her rented accommodation at Sinapali and office were also searched.
Vigilance teams of Nuapada, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Jeypore were involved in the raids.
It is worthwhile to mention here that with the arrest of Dei, the count of corrupt ICDS officials in Vigilance net has gone upto eight in a span of just three months. Those include four CDPOs; Mallilata Das in Bhadrak, Meena Patra in Biswanathpur under Lanjigarh Block in Kalahandi, Puspanjali Rath at Th.Rampur Block in Kalahandi and Sarala Dei of Balikuda in Jagatsinghpur.
Apart from that three Supervisors and one Anganwadi worker were also arrested.
Notably, demanding the regularisation of jobs and hike in their salaries and allowances, the agitating women members of the contractual ICDS Supervisors’ body had staged a dharna in November this year at PMG square in Bhubaneswar.
As per reports, Patra had demanded Rs 20,000 from the complainant on the pretext of appointing him as a ladder man with the office of SDO electrical TPSODL.
"Patra recommend his name for ladder man, however, he continued to pester the complainant to give him the money as he had recommended his name. However, fade up with the constant bickering from Patra, the complainant approached the anti-corruption agency with the complaint following which a trap was laid," informed the DSP, Vigilance Jeypore division, Surendranath Panigrahi.
When the government official was accepting the bribe, the waiting Vigilance sleuths caught him red-handed and arrested him.
Meanwhile, the anti-corruption agency has also launched simultaneous searches at the properties associated with Patra along with his powerhouse colony house, ancestral house and office following his arrest.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Vigilance sleuths conducted raid on the houses and property of an Anganwadi worker from Bhubaneswar following allegations of possession of assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.
(Edited By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)
A Vigilance team caught Sachidananda Kishan, the Sub-Inspector of Bariapa Police station under Mayurbhanj district while he was taking bribe, sources said.
According to sources, Sachidananda had sought bribe from one accused Biswajeet Sikhar, who was arrested over some family dispute.
“Police arrested me on charges of attempted murder and dowry. They arrested and tortured me mercilessly. The police later removed Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC from the FIR lodged against me and sought Rs 15,000 to solve the matter,” said Sikhar.
Sources said the Tehsildar was accepting the bribe from one Hemant Behera to facilitate illegal sand mining when officials of the anti-corruption wing caught him red-handed.
Mallick had demanded a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from Behera. When Behera expressed his inability to pay the amount, the former asked him to pay Rs 1 lakh.
Later, a trap was laid and the Tehsildar was caught red-handed while taking the bribe in his house. The officials are now interrogating Mallick at the Works Department office.
According to sources, a government project of Rs 13 lakh has been sanctioned for Lakhna Range in the district to construct houses and kendu leaf storage building. To approve the bills Mishra allegedly demanded bribe from Parshuram Patel, the Ranger in-charge of the area.
However, Patel informed Vigilance department and while accepting the bribe, Mishra was caught red- handed by Bhawanipatna Vigilance officials.
Also Read: Tiger hunts down monkey at Nandankanan zoo
Meanwhile, vigilance officials are conducting simultaneous raids on Mishra's government quarter at Khariar, house in Bhubaneswar and an ancestral home in Baripada.
https://youtu.be/Jsy8dpmVZhI
As per a complaint, doctor B Gopal Chandra Rao of the Buguda CHC had already taken Rs 3,000 bribe for the operation of a patient. He was caught red-handed by Vigilance sleuths while accepting another Rs 1,500.
Later, officials of the anti-corruption wing raided his residence on charges of amassing property disproportionate to his known source of income. During the search, Vigilance officials detected assets worth over Rs 1.70 crore in the name of the doctor.
His movable and immovable property includes three houses in Berhampur and Sakhapatna and bank deposits of over Rs 1 crore. Besides, the team also seized Rs 4.90 lakh cash during the search.
https://youtu.be/IF3PJ_djJlQ
As per complaint, CDMO Gitanjali had demanded bribe from a supervisor of Sarada Security and Facility Service, a security agency, to pass a pending bill. After arresting Gitanjali, officials of the anti-corruption wing raided her residence at Gabasahi in the district.
Sources said the security agency had engaged security personnel at the Bhadrak district headquarters hospital (DHH). The CDMO had demanded the bribe to pass a bill in favour of the security staff for the month of October, sources added.
https://youtu.be/DHJv-VLRc0E
The DGM had demanded Rs, 5000 bribe from a local allegedly to make a bill for a rented vehicle at his office. Later, a trap was laid and Choudhry was caught red-handed by the Baripada Vigilance while he was accepting Rs 3,000 at his office. The team also seized the bribe money from his possession.
After arresting Choudhry, officials of the anti-corruption wing conducted simultaneous raid on his house in Baripada and his Bhubaneswar office. The officials are further interrogating the official.
In another development, Vigilance sleuths raided the office and houses of Balasore Road Transport Officer (RTO) Amresh Patra and acquisition and possession of property disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The team conducted the search operation simultaneously at nine places, including his office and houses at Balasore, Khuntuni in Cuttack and relative’s house in Bhubaneswar. The exact amount of disproportionate assets would be revealed once the search drive is completed, said a Vigilance official.
The footage of the video in possession of OTV shows JE Kabin Behera taking bribe for the check dam work completed in 2016. Though the contractor had pursued the department officials earlier, his attempts had fallen flat.
When the JE demanded bribe, the contractor sent the bribe money through another person who tactfully filmed the whole episode.
Asked about the development, Executive Engineer, of the Nabarangpur small irrigation department Suresh Satpathy said, “The truth can be known if an inquiry is made in presence of the concerned person involved.”
He added if there is any truth in the video footage, departmental action will be taken against the JE.
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.
According to sources the IIC had demanded Rs 20,000 as bribe from a relative of one Ganesh Chandra Mohapatra, who is accused in a land dispute, for not arresting Ganesh. Later, a trap was laid and the Vigilance team caught the IIC red-handed while he was accepting Rs 10,000 from Ganesh’s relative.
Officials of the anti-corruption agency are interrogating the accused.
"Doctor Nirmal Nayak had taken Rs 3500 from us and returned the amount after MLA, CDMO and other staff of the hospital asked her to do the same. He also apologised over the matter", said Sumit Sisa, a relative of the victim.
CDMO Uday Shankar Mishra had removed the doctor from duty and attached him to the CDMO office.
Adibari Namni, a Bonda woman of Dantapada village in Bondaghati under Khairput block, was brought for delivery to the hospital on May 5 by her husband Guru Sisa. Gynaecologist Nirmal Nayak had allegedly demanded Rs 5000 bribe from the couple for C-section delivery.
Guru had alleged that the doctor snatched away Rs 2,000 from his brother-in-law who had come to the hospital to see his sister.
Later, he had lodged a complaint following which the CDMO had ordered an inquiry.
According to reports, Dr Nirmal Kumar Nayak had demanded a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Sisha Nayak for his wife's delivery after she was brought to the hospital with labour pain. Though Sisha Nayak had expressed his inability to pay the huge sum, he arranged Rs 2,000 and promised the doctor to pay the remaining amount later.
Later, Sisha’s wife delivered two kids after a caesarean section in the hospital.
Also Read: Oxygen cylinder blast in Capital Hospital, 2 injured
“I had paid Rs 2,000 to the doctor after arranging the money from one of my relatives. The doctor threatened to stop medicines if I did not pay the remaining Rs 3,000,” said Sisha after filing a complaint with the Chief District Medical Officer.
The CDMO confirmed to have got a written complaint and assured appropriate action would be taken after an inquiry. According to reports, the doctor has been shifted from the hospital and posted at the CDMO office.
The RI had demanded Rs 3,000 bribe from one Sonu Barik for sending a land verification report in favour of the latter. Sonu had given him Rs 1400 and expressed his inability to pay the rest amount. However, Nayak refused to give the report and demanded the remaining Rs 1600.
Finding no other option, Barik lodged a complaint with the Balasore Vigilance in this connection, said Sabita Majhi, Vigilance DSP, Angul..
"We caught the RI red handed while receiving RS 1600 from Sonu Barik and arrested him," said the DSP.
According to sources the VLW had demanded Rs 5,000 as bribe from a beneficiary for clearing a bill under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY).
Investigation is on into the matter, sources said.
A seven-member team of the anti-corruption wing, led by Keonjhar Vigilance DSP Harekrushna Majhi, caught the accused persons redhanded while taking bribe from one Ajit Kumar Nayak.
The accused RI and peon have been identified as Banchhanidhi Satpathy and Taranisen Patra respectively.
Both the accused have been taken into custody and interrogation is underway, said Majhi.
As per sources, the labour official was caught red handed while accepting the bribe from Madhusudan Dora Chamapadeipur village of Lanjigarh block for releasing compensation announced in the name of his brother Sarat Dora who died during a factory mishap on May 21, 2016 at a fish and oil company located in Mumbai.
Speaking to media persons, the complainant said the Mumbai-based company for which his brother worked had released funds to their family in terms of fixed deposits following the death of Sarat in the mishap.
“We had withdrawn some amount of the compensation while the remaining was converted to Fixed Deposit bonds by the company kept in the custody of the Kalahandi district labour official. When we went to Dinabandhu Adhikari and asked for the rest of the ex-gratia amount the district Deputy Labour Commissioner demanded Rs 40,000 bribe to hand over the bonds to us. Despite repeated requests were made the official did not pay any heed to our pleas which was why we sought Vigilance help,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jeypore Vigilance SP Sashibhusan Mishra said investigation is on and search was made at the tainted official's residence D 14/2 in Bhoinagar area of Bhubaneswar and ancestral house at Sabulia under Rambha Police limits in Ganjam.
Also Read: RSP ED arrested by CBI on graft charges
A six-member team of CBI sleuths traced the ornaments from a locker of the State Bank of India (SBI)’s Sector-19 branch in the steel city.
Yesterday, CBI had traced 29.15 lakh worth of cash the joint account of Burma and his wife.
On January 9, Burma was arrested on the allegation of accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a contractor to pass a tender.
Burma was arrested on the allegation of taking Rs 1 lakh bribe to pass a tender, said CBI SP.
Earlier on Sunday, a six-day team of the CBI had raided the house and office of Burma at Sector-19 here and seized Rs 20L cash of Rs 2000 denomination from his possession. The officials had seized some important documents during the search.
Investigation into seizure of huge cash of Rs 2000 denomination from Burma’s possession is underway, said CBI. Though Burma was transferred to Bokaro Steel Plant as executive director (Works and Project) three days ago, he has not joined his duty there yet.
On Wednesday, officials of the investigating agency had raided the office and residence of RSP officers – Harekrushna Behera and AK Karmakar– on charges of irregularities in goods procurement.
As per complainant Pratap Barik of Daanra village, Grahacharya demanded Rs 1000 from him to change his daughter’s name in birth. The complainant had appealed the health supervisor for the name change in 2015. But Grahacharya demanded the bribe. Finding no other option, Barik reported the matter to Vigilance.
Later, a trap was laid and Grahacharya was caught red-handed by the vigilance team, said Jajpur Vigilance DSP Sishir Kumar Bhoi.
According to sources, the anti-corruption wing of Odisha Police caught Sethi red-handed while he was taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a patient for an operation.
Also read: Khurda ACF in Vigilance net
However, refuting the allegations made against him, Sethi, said, “I have not taken any bribe. I have asked money to the patient to buy instruments required for the operation.”
“As the equipments are not available in Burla, so I asked the patient for the money,” Sethi added.
Mishra was caught by the Vigilance sleuths while taking Rs 5,000 bribe from a teacher for updating a service book this morning. Officials of the Cuttack Vigilance Division raided the house of Mishra at Rajendra Nagar and seized the bribe money.
The officials later took the BEO to the Vigilance office for interrogation.
The anti-graft agency raided a hotel here while engineer Gopal Chandra Nayak was making a deal of Rs 2 lakh to pass a pending bill of Rs 30 lakh.
The vigilance sleuths seized over Rs 1 lakh from his possession apart from the bribe money. Investigation is on into the matter.
The four MLAs lodged FIRs at the Kharvelnagar police station and alleged that they were invited for a discussion regarding setting up of an industry and the conversation was recorded. They said the person claiming to be a representative of the company later blackmailed them with the recording for money. As the MLAs could not give the money, he released the recording to Media tarnishing their images. The MLAs demanded strong action against the person.
Notably, the video footage of the sting operation aired on a news channel on Monday showed four MLAs, Anama Nayak, Sushant Behera, Bijay Nayak and Seemarani Nayak, demanding hefty money as bribe from an undercover person posing as an industrialist for giving No Objection Certificate (NOC) and facilitating land acquisition to set up industries in their respective constituencies.
On the other hand, the BJP filed an FIR against the four MLAs at the Capital police station demanding action against the legislators in this connection. Besides, the State Vigilance yesterday formed five teams to probe into the incident.
Talking to media persons here, Vigilance Director RP Sharma said five teams have been formed initially to probe the incident with each team having a specific job. If necessary, more teams will be formed, he added.
“We will decide on how to proceed with the investigation in due course,” Sharma said.
Stating that the prime objective of the team is to conduct an impartial probe, he said the Vigilance team will collect the audio and video clippings flashed in the media and send it for forensic test since it is necessary fro the legal point of view to verify the authenticity of the tapes.
“We will also interrogate the persons involved in the incident and cross check facts. Our main focus is to bring out the truth,” he added.
Notably, the video footage of the four MLAs, which showed them demanding money for giving No Objection Certificate (NOC) and facilitating land acquisition in their constituencies, was aired on a local television channel on Monday.
Complainant Samal alleged that the IIC had demanded the bribe after he requested him to settle a land dispute lodged against himself. Later, the Constable reported the matter to Vigilance officials following which a trap was laid and the IIC was caught red-handed.
After arresting Nayak, Vigilance officials raided his Government quarters at Narasinghpur and his house at Mahisapata in Dhenkanal simultaneously. During the search, the teams seized many important documents. Investigation is on into the matter, said Vigilance Cuttack Division DSP Ananta Narayan Mohanty.
In a letter to Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) dated 12th May, 2016, a copy of which is in the possession of OTV, the state government has directed chief administrator of the shrine body to “accord approval of Rs 2 crore (Two Crore) only towards payment of compensation to Daitapati Nijog for prohibiting the devotees from climbing the chariots during the Rath Yatra, 2015.”
“The said amount may be released by Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) from its own fund which will be reimbursed through budgetary provisions of the State government,” the letter read.
What has raised eyebrows is the role of SJTA in recommending the amount in favour of the servitors.
The letter, from BP Sahoo, Under Secretary to Government, has clearly mentioned receiving a recommendation (letter No- 4129) from the Temple Administration in this regard on 28th March, 2016.
The revelation has evoked sharp criticism from all quarters. While scholars and ecperts on Jagannath cult have criticised the State government for appeasing the servitors, others including retired bureaucrats have condemned the act.
“Why the servitors were paid such a huge amount and that too to enforce the High Court order which asked not to allow the devotees to climb the chariots during Rath Yatra? It is public money and every transaction should be transparent,” said Prafulla Rath, Jagannath culture expert.
“It is not equitable if a government pays some amount to appease a particular section of the society for a particular cause,” retired IAS officer Arabinda Behera said.
In 2014, based on the recommendations of Puri seer Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, the Orissa High Court had directed the Odisha government not to allow devotees atop the chariots.
The principal was later arrested.
Talking to media persons, Haramohan Pati, Vigilance DSP of Nayagarh said Das had been demanding a bribe of Rs 1 lakh every month from ASI Ramakrushna Satpathy, who was in charge of the mess of the school. But as he refused to oblige him, he threatened to transfer him from the school to elsewhere.
“Finding no other alternative, Satpathy agreed to give him a bribe of Rs 75,000 and at the same time informed the Vigilance wing. Acting on the complaint, a joint team of Vigilance led by the DSPs of Khurda, Bhubaneswar and myself conducted a surprise raid on the official residence of Das and caught him red-handed while he was accepting Rs 75,000 from Satpathy and arrested him later,” Pati said.
He also said Das was later brought to Bhubaneswar for interrogation.
Sources said following his arrest, the Vigilance officials have raided Das’s paternal house at Chandipura village in Jagatsinghpur district.
According to sources, Chaulia had demanded Rs 50,000 from the suspended secretary Sanjay Kumar Baigharia to revoke his suspension order.
On being informed about the allegation, Ganjam vigilance sleuths conducted a raid and arrested Chaulia. They also recovered the bribe money from him, the sources added.
Vigilance sources said Sahu had demanded Rs 30,000 from Sangam Keshari Das, owner ofJyoshna Electrical Appliances to approve the estimate for a project.
The contractor informed the Vigilance officials who laid a trap and caught Sahu red-handed while he was accepting the bribe.
The anti-corruption officials later arrested Sahu.
Vigilance officials are conducting simultaneous raid on the rented house of Sahu in Keonjhar and his residential house in Bhubaneswar.
The raids were conducted by five teams led by Abhiram Kar, DSP, Vigilance, Balangir.
“Till now, we have seized incriminating documents, cash and jewellery from the house of the Junior Engineer. Besides, preliminary investigation has revealed that Panigrahi is involved in the sale and purchase of about 40 residential plots,” he added.
The raids were continuing till reports last came in.
In another incident, the anti-corruption officials arrested Anima Ghosh, Revenue Inspector (RI) of Pokharia block under Saraskana tehsil in Mayurbhanj district on bribery charges.
Reports said Ghosh had demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 from from Kamal Lochan Sahu of Saraskana village towards measurement of his paternal land, which was to be divided among the brothers.
As Sahu reported the matter to the Vigilance officials, the latter laid a trap and caught the RI red-handed while she was accepting the bribe.
The arrested RI was later forwarded to the court.
According to sources, one Kashinath Prdhan had done a construction work worth Rs 1 lakh under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD).
Giri had asked Pradhan to give him a bribe of Rs 500 to process the file for return of the Rs 3,000 security money. Pradhan had filed a complaint in this regard with the district Vigilance.
Following the complaint, the anti-corruption wing of Odisha Police laid a trap and arrested the senior clerk while he was taking the bribe from Pradhan, the sources added.
Harmohan Pati, DSP, Vigilance said, “Kashinath Prdhan of Odagaon block had done a construction work worth Rs 1 lakh under MPLAD fund in 2010-11. Though, Pradhan had got the bill, he is yet to receive the security money of Rs 3,000.”
“The senior clerk of the block Bijay Kumar Giri had asked Pradhan for a Rs 500 bribe to clear a file,” Pati added.
Besides, the investigating team also raided the house of the clerk in the district and produced him before the Vigilance court in Bhubaneswar.
Vigilance sleuths have found properties worth crores of rupees in the name of Nanda, who was arrested while taking a bribe.
According to sources, the anti-corruption wing of Odisha Police has loacted three multi-storied buildings in Sishupalgarh, Dumduma and Unit-8 area of the capital city belonging to Nanda whose cumulative cost will be more than Rs 2 crore.
Besides, the investigating agency also traced two plots in the name of Nanda measuring around 11,000 square feet at Andharua and Chandaka area on the outskirts of the city, the sources added.
The agency also found Rs 11 lakh in bank deposits and 288 grams of gold kept in two lockers of a bank, which are in the name of the arrested engineer.
While a graft case has been filed against Nanda, another fresh case for amassing assets to his known source of income will be filed against the engineer, sources in the Vigilance said.
Vigilance SP Basant Kumar Panigrahi said, “We have found two three-storied buildings in the name of Nanda at Dumduma and Nayapalli and a one-storied building at Sishupalgarh. Besides, we have found a fixed deposits worth Rs 10 lakh from State Bank of India (SBI) locker.”
Bhadark: The headmaster of a government high school in the district has allegedly demanded a bribe for initiating the process of rectifying the name of a student in his board certificate.
According to reports, Goleka Chandra Rout, headmaster of Utkalamani Gopabandhu Ucha Vidyapeetha in Narendrapur under Chandbali block of Bhadrak district had asked the father of a student for Rs 1,000 for help in correcting a mistake in the board certificate of his son.
“When I, along with my son, went to the school to meet the headmaster to inform about the mistake and to know how it can be rectified as my son was preparing to go abroad, he (headmaster) asked me to pay Rs 1,000 towards expenditure on the school clerk's visit to the Board office in Cuttack for the purpose” Gokula Chandra Muduli, the father of Sushabhana Muduli (the student) alleged.
“After I refused to pay the money, he, along with his clerk, came to my home asking for the same,” Muduli added.
Speaking about his ordeal, Muduli said, “My son had appeared matriculation examination in 2011 and got the certificate with a mistake in his mother’s name, which was written Ranjita Muduli instead of Pradipta Muduli. After our application for correction, the board had rectified it, but made another mistake in my son’s name which was Sushadhana Muduli in place of Sushabhana Muduli.”
Reacting to the allegations, high school headmaster Goleka Chandra Rout said, “it is a baseless allegation. Neither we had asked for money nor did we go to their home. We only told him that it is a time taking process and you have to wait to get the corrected certificates which he interpreted as a demand for money to do the job.”
The head master also said that the board had already dispatched it to Balasore for printing. "We will get the corrected one by April 12," he said.
According to sources, the anti corruption wing nabbed Patnaik while he was taking the bribe from a contractor promising him to provide the contract of food supply to the jail.
Besides, it is also alleged that Patnaik was also taking bribe from the contractor on pretext of clearing all his arrears, the sources added.
In another incident, the state probe agency today arrested Ekdasi Pradhan, Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) of Dhangidisola panchayats under Saraskana block in Keonjhar district while he was taking a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a person to sanction Indira Awas aid.
According to sources, Pradhan asked Lalmohan Dhir of Dhadingisolo village to give Rs 6,000 bribe for the sanction of housing scheme.
Following the incident Dhir met the Vigilance officials and chalked out a plan to trap Pradhan. As per the plan, Vigilance nabbed Pradhan while Dhir was offering Rs 4,000 to the PEO, the sources added.
After arresting Pradhan, the state probe agency also raided his house, office and block office.
Replying to a written question of BJP MLA Dilip Ray, Panchayati Raj Minister Pradip Maharathy said punitive measures have been taken against 258 officials/non-officials for collecting "PC" or percentage commission in the rural housing schemes.
Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had given a call to end percentage commission being collected in the rural housing schemes. He had instructed District Collectors to stop the practice of collection of commission at the block level.
The Vigilance Department has set up a helpline number to get feedback from the people on corruption in the rural housing schemes.
Besides, an oversight committee headed by the state Chief Secretary has been formed to prevent corruption from taking place.
The woman, in her late 30s, was driving her car while returning from a party around Wednesday-Thursday midnight in an allegedly heavily inebriated condition, police said.
She apparently lost control at the Chingrihata crossing on the Eastern Metropolitan by-pass close to Salt Lake and hit a divider.
However, when a taxi driver tried to rescue her, the woman thrashed him.
Then a constable tried to bring out the woman and her two friends - a man and a woman, who were also under the influence of liquor A- from the car. But, the policeman was hardly prepared for what followed next.
The woman pulled him towards her, hugged him tightly, and started raining kisses on him.
The other policemen sought help from another woman present at the spot, finally managed to extricate their colleague and take the three to the Bidhannagar South police station.
The woman has been booked for rash driving under the influence of liquor. Cases have also been initiated against her two friends for misconduct.
"We may even start a case against the woman driver for trying to bribe a policeman by kissing him," said a police officer lightheartedly.
"Sasikala has given Rs 1 crore bribe to Rao and another Rs 1 crore was distributed among officials, including warden of the central jail where she is serving 4-year sentence in an illegal wealth case for allowing her special privileges," said a local news channel quoting from a report Deputy Inspector of Prisons (DIG) Roopa Moudgil submitted to the state government.
While Roopa was not reachable to confirm the bribery and other charges, Rao, however, denied them and accused Roopa of gross sub-ordination.
"I have served a memo to her (Roopa) seeking explanation and evidence to prove her wild allegations. She has not given any report to me or the government against me or other jail officials," Rao told IANS.
In a sensational revelation, Roopa said 59-year-old Sasikala was getting royal treatment in the women's cell where she has been lodged since February 15 to serve her sentence.
Co-convicts Sasikala's sister-in-law Elavarasi and nephew V.K. Sudhakaran were also held guilty by a trial court in September 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court on February 14 in the two-decade-old disproportionate assets case of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
"As a reward for bribing the prison authorities from Rao to jail warden, Sasikala gets special menu daily, cooked by special chefs in a special kitchen near the women's cell," Roopa is said to have mentioned in the report.
The 2000 batch IPS officer is the first woman in the southern state to have been recently (June 23) appointed DIG of the prisons department.
Alleging massive irregularities and rampant corruption in the central jail on the city's southern outskirts, Roopa said drugs were being distributed to the inmates through various means and select prisoners were given special facilities.
"At least 18 of the 25 prisoners who were tested for taking drugs reported positive. From DGP to jail warden are involved in flouting the prison manual," alleged Roopa in the report.
Refuting the charges, Rao said how she found so many wrong things in three weeks of joining the department. What and how she could know of things that might have happened or not months ago as being aired quoting from her report.
"I have asked her to meet me on Friday and hand over the so-called report from which a news channel is airing her views. Where was she when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a review meeting here on Monday? Ask her?," quipped an upset Rao.
Niranjan Behera was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Bhadrak yesterday night.
Searches at his residence today led to Rs 2 lakh in cash and property documents being recovered, officials said.
Behera, who is in police custody, will be produced before the court for placing him in CBI custody, they said.
It is alleged that the official demanded Rs 50,000 as bribe from a petrol pump owner in Bhadrak district for not reopening his tax assessment issue, they said.
After verifying details of the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and arrested Behera while he was receiving Rs 40,000 of the Rs 50,000 bribe last night, they said.
The accused persons identified as Kailash Chandra Behera, RI and Govinda Chandra Pattanaik, peon were caught red handed while accepting bribe in the office chamber, said vigilance SP (Berhampur) Amulya Kumar Das.
The bribe money along with some relevant documents were seized for them, he said.
The residence of RI located at Lanjipalli here and his office chamber has been searched after their arrest, officials said.
The vigilance personnel caught him in the premises of the forest office red handed, officials said.
A trap was laid and Lalita Basanta Ghadei, GRS, was caught red handed in the office room of Endar Gram Panchayat under Derabish block by vigilance Officers while demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 2,000 from complainant Abhya Kumar Mallick yesterday, a vigilance release said.
Complainant Mallick alleged that he had completed the execution of cement concrete road work at an estimated cost of Rs 2 lakh and final bill of the work has been paid to him. But he has to get the security deposit of Rs 10,000.
When Mallick requested Ghadei for processing the file to get his security money in his favour, the GRS demanded Rs 2,000 for the above purpose, it said.
Following his complaint, the trap was laid and Ghadei arrested. The bribe money of Rs 2,000 has been recovered from the possession of Ghadei and seized in presence of witnesses, the release added.
Harihara Pani was caught red handed while accepting cash Rs 10,000 from a person at his office, said vigilance SP, Berhampur, Manoranjan Panda.
The accused ASI had promised not to register a case against the person's brother after taking bribe, he said. PTI COR AAM KK
The executive engineer, identified as Rabindra Kumar Mehto, had reportedly sought Rs 21,000 bribe from a contractor Dilip Kumar Padhi for passing the latter's pending bills.
“A bill of Rs 10.5 lakh against the construction of a building at MRP Colony was pending since the last 11 months as Mehto was delaying the matter over bribe. I later convinced him to clear the bill by assuring him to give two per cent (Rs 21,000) of the bill,” alleged Padhi.
Later, Padhi approached the Vigilance DSP and filed a complaint against the executive engineer.
Acting on the complaint, the Vigilance sleuths laid a trap and caught Mehto red-handed while accepting the bribe amount from Padhi in his (Mehto) office.
Mehto was subsequently arrested and a search was also conducted at his government quarters in Deogarh.
Rout made such startling revelation during his first public meeting held at Nrurtanga in Mahanaga after his expulsion from BJD.
“An officer whom I had suspended over corruption charges had offered me Rs 1 crore to remain silent. The bribe was offered by the officer on the instructions of VK Pandian, the private secretary of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik,” alleged Rout.
Rout further said that he lost his ministerial berth for not accepting the money. Moreover, he also slammed Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik over the latter's lack of interest to learn ‘Odia’ and alleged that the Kunduli gang rape incident was suppressed and bureaucrats and officers are calling the shots.
Rout further targeted Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena.
“Depsite being a MLA from Mahanga, he (Jena) should behave responsibly. Nobody will tolerate when you act on your whims,” Rout said targeting Jena.
Earlier, Rout had announced that he will reach out to people by organizing several public meetings against the rampant corruption in the state. An anti-corruption meeting will be organized in Nimapara tomorrow, sources said.
Though Dama Rout also hinted about forming a new party based on the ideology and legacy of former CM Late Biju Patnaik, he is yet to divulge any details.
However, Rout claimed that he is in contact with several leaders and soon a decision will be taken.
BJD spokesperson, Sameer Dash on the other hand stated that Damodar Rout’s meetings will not have any impact on the party.
“He (Dama Rout) is speaking a lot and everybody in Odisha is listening. But such statements do not hold any relevance,” said Dash.