Kalahandi, Nov 13: Odisha Vigilance officials on Thursday apprehended a Senior Clerk of the Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWS&S) Division in Bhawanipatna for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a retired employee of the same office.

The accused Senior Clerk has been identified as T. Bhenkatagiri Rao.

According to Vigilance sources, Rao was caught red-handed at his government quarters in Bhawanipatna after demanding bribe from the complainant to process his pension-related files. The complainant, a staff member who retired on March 31, 2024, had reportedly been requesting Rao for several months to prepare and forward his pension papers. Despite repeated pleas, Rao allegedly delayed the process and instead demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 to move the file.

Frustrated by the continued harassment, the retired employee lodged a complaint with the Vigilance Department, leading to a trap being laid. During the operation, Rao was nabbed while receiving the tainted money. In a desperate attempt to evade arrest, he tried to throw the cash out of the window, but the Vigilance team quickly recovered the full amount and secured the spot.

Following the successful trap, simultaneous searches were launched at three locations linked to the accused to investigate possible disproportionate assets (DA).

A case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered and further investigation is currently underway.