Bhubaneswar, April 2: Naresh Kumar Das, an Assistant Engineer (AE) at the Rural Works (PH) Division in Bhubaneswar, was arrested by the Odisha Vigilance today for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a contractor in exchange for clearing pending bills worth approximately Rs 7 lakh.
The contractor, who had been requesting Das to clear his pending bills for several days, was allegedly told by the accused that the bills would not be processed unless he paid the demanded bribe. Left with no other option, the contractor approached the Odisha Vigilance authorities and filed a complaint, detailing the harassment he had been facing at the hands of Das.
Based on the complaint, a trap was set on April 2. The vigilance team apprehended Naresh Kumar Das in his office room after he had taken the bribe of Rs 1 lakh from the contractor. The bribe money was recovered from Das's possession and seized in the presence of witnesses. A chemical test conducted on both hand and pant pocket washes of Sri Das confirmed the acceptance and handling of the bribe.
In addition to the bribe money, the vigilance team recovered an extra Rs 1.26 lakh in suspected ill-gotten cash during a personal search of Das. This brought the total amount seized to Rs 2.26 lakh.
Following the arrest, simultaneous searches were conducted at several locations associated with the accused. These included his rented house at Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar, his residence in Turang, Shital Vihar, Angul, his parental home in Sahupada, Pallahara, and his office room. Naresh Kumar Das has been detained for further interrogation.
A case has been registered at the Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and investigations are ongoing.
