Bhubaneswar, Sept 12: In a series of operations conducted by the Odisha Vigilance, three government servants were arrested on Thursday for corruption and bribery.
The accused were apprehended from different districts of the state, including Sambalpur, Nayagarh, and Mayurbhanj, following investigations into their illegal activities.
1. Tahasildar in Sambalpur arrested for taking Rs 15,000 bribe
In the first case, Bamra Tahasildar in Sambalpur, Aswini Kumar Panda, was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 for converting agricultural land to homestead land in a mutation case.
The victim had been requesting the conversion for over a month but was asked to pay Rs 20,000 as bribe for the service. After the complainant expressed an inability to pay such a high amount, Panda lowered the bribe demand to Rs 15,000 and threatened to halt the process otherwise.
Left with no option, the complainant approached the Vigilance authorities, who launched a successful operation and arrested Panda while he was accepting the bribe through his office driver, P. Praveen Kumar.
Both Panda and his driver have been taken into custody, and the entire bribe amount of Rs 15,000 has been recovered and seized. A case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
Simultaneous searches are being conducted at three locations linked to Panda to investigate the Disproportionate Assets (DA) angle.
2. District Labour Officer in Nayagarh arrested for taking Rs 6,000 bribe
In the second operation, the District Labour Officer (DLO) of Nayagarh Chittaranjan Rout was arrested for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000 from a complainant for issuing labour cards.
The complainant, along with 19 other poor labourers, had been waiting for nearly a year for the issuance of the cards but was harassed by Rout, who demanded the bribe for completing the process. The complainant reported the matter to the Vigilance authorities, leading to a successful sting operation.
The entire bribe amount of Rs 6,000 in bribe money was recovered from Rout’s possession.
Following the trap, Vigilance officials launched simultaneous searches at three locations linked to the accused to investigate the DA angle.
A case has been registered against him under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
3. Panchayat Official from Mayurbhanj arrested for embezzling Rs 5.6 lakh govt. funds
In the third operation, the former Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) of Luhasila GP under Bijatola Block in Mayurbhanj, Puspita Mahakud, has been arrested for embezzling government funds totaling Rs 5.68 lakh.
The funds, which were meant for the distribution of Old Age Pension to senior citizens, were misappropriated by Mahakud. She is currently attached to the Sub-Collector’s office in Rairangpur.
This embezzlement comes after several complaints from beneficiaries regarding delayed payment.
