Bhubaneswar, July 5: Vigilance sleuths on Sunday apprehended a woman sarpanch for taking bribe from a Self-Help Group (SHG).
Accused Suryakanti Pandey, Sarpanch of Nimna gram panchayat (GP) under Ullunda block of Subarnapur, has been apprehended by Odisha Vigilance while demanding and taking a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a functionary of an SHG for signing the agreement papers required for pisciculture in the GP Tank and to facilitate release of subsidy amount from District Fisheries Office in favour of the said SHG group.
It is pertinent to mention here that the SHG Group has taken the lease of GP Tank for five years for pisciculture purposes.
According to Vigilance, the accused demanded bribe Rs 40,000 from the SHG functionary initially for signing the agreement paper. When the complainant expressed inability to pay the demanded bribe, the accused reduced the bribe amount to Rs 20,000.
Finding no other means, the complainant approached the Vigilance authorities.
“Upon receiving the information, today, a team of Odisha Vigilance nabbed Smt.Pandey while taking bribe Rs.20,000/- from the complt. The entire tainted bribe money Rs.20,000/- has been recovered from the possession of accused Smt Pandey and seized,” said a Vigilance communique.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches underway at two locations linked to Pandey on possession of possible disproportionate assets.
In this connection, Sambalpur Vigilance P.S. Case No. 10 dtd. 04.06.2026 U/s 7 P.C. (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered. Investigation is in progress against accused Smt. Pandey, Sarpanch. Detailed report follows.
