Bhubaneswar, May 17: Vigilance sleuths arrested a Junior Engineer (JE) of Rural Development Department and his associate for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1.36 lakh from a contractor for clearing bills.
The accused have been identified as Keshab Subudhi, Junior Engineer, Bhapur RW Section of Nayagarh district and his associate Ashutosh Baliarsingh, a private individual. They were caught red-handed at the Government quarters of the accused JE in Khandapada of Nayagarh district while taking the bribe from the contractor, officials said.
As per the Government guidelines, after completion of the maintenance period, the Initial Security Deposit (ISD) along with the security deposit will be returned to the contractor. Further, the ISD and security deposit stands forfeited if the measurements are not taken for the maintenance works. After completion of maintenance works, the contractor had been requesting the accused JE for last three-four months to take measurements, and to facilitate for release of security money in his favour.
According to Vigilance release, the complainant had approached the authorities after Subudhi, with the help of Baliarsingh, allegedly demanded Rs 1.36 lakh in lieu of clearing bills of the construction and maintenance work under MMSY (Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana) for the year 2021-22 in Khandapara area of Nayagarh district and to refund the security deposit.
Acting on the complaint, a trap was laid and both were caught while accepting the money.
“The entire tainted bribe money of Rs 1.36 lakh has been recovered from them and seized. Following the trap, simultaneous searches are going on at two locations linked to Subudhi, JE from disproportionate assets angle,” it reads.
