Paradip, Oct 8: Odisha Vigilance on Thursday caught a programmer working under the District Education Officer-cum-District Project Coordinator, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Jagatsinghpur, red-handed while allegedly accepting a ₹30,000 bribe.

The accused has been identified as Chandrajit Parija, a programmer in the office of the DEO/DPC, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Jagatsinghpur.

According to the Vigilance department, Parija had allegedly demanded the bribe from an executant for facilitating the release of pending bills related to the installation of digital blackboards in schools across Jagatsinghpur district.

Parija was reportedly a member of the procurement and technical committee and was responsible for inspecting the digital blackboard installation work and certifying it for the release of bills.

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However, despite repeated requests, he allegedly did not inspect the work and instead demanded ₹30,000 for clearing the pending bills.

Acting on the complaint, Odisha Vigilance laid a trap and caught Parija while allegedly demanding and accepting the bribe money from the complainant.

The entire tainted amount of ₹30,000 was recovered from his possession and seized by the Vigilance team.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches are being conducted at three locations linked to Parija as part of a Disproportionate Assets (DA) investigation.

The Vigilance department has registered Cuttack Vigilance Police Station Case No. 39 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

Further investigation into the case is underway.