Paradeep, Oct 13: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested a doctor of Paradeep port for allegedly demanding and accepting bribe from crew members of a shipping company.
The accused has been identified as Dr. Rajendra Narayan Panigrahi, an officer of the Port Health Organisation (PHO), Paradeep.
CBI officials caught Panigrahi red-handed while accepting a bribe amount of Rs 54,000. The entire money has been recovered and seized. CBI officials said that they have recovered Rs 17 lakh in cash and $20558 from Panigrahi. Besides, the agency has also traced documents pertaining to five properties at various places in Odisha and Hyderabad.
According to a source, the PHO’s main function among others is to provide COVID clearance certificates to those coming from other countries. As per the allegations, Dr Panigrahi used to demand a bribe of Rs 1500 to 2000 from each crew member to give them the said certificate.
Following the incident, CBI carried out raids at multiple places including the residence of Panigrahi in Cuttack, the ancestral house in Balasore and office in Paradip. During house searches, Rs 1 Crore cash, foreign liquor, foreign cigarettes and foreign perfumes of different brands were seized.
Further investigation in this regard is underway.
