Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance sleuths apprehended junior engineer Ms Susmita Oram for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 8,000 from a contractor.
Oram, who works at the Gaisilet Block in Bargarh district, was allegedly demanded a total bribe of Rs 32,000 for clearing pending bills related to a road improvement project under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
According to a release issued by the Vigilance department, Oram had already taken Rs 24,000 from the contractor a few days ago and was demanding the remaining amount of Rs 8,000 to clear the pending bill. The contractor, unable to bear the harassment, approached the Vigilance authorities, leading to Oram’s arrest.
The Vigilance team recovered the entire bribe amount from Oram’s possession and seized it. Simultaneous searches are being conducted at two locations linked to Oram to investigate potential disproportionate assets.
It is learnt that the estimated project cost was Rs 9,50,000, with Rs 3.15 lakh already disbursed in earlier bill payments. The junior engineer demanded a 10% bribe based on the paid bill amount to clear the remaining bills.
A case has been registered against Oram under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and an investigation is underway.
Notably, Oram, who joined government service as a junior engineer in January 2024, was on her first posting at Gaisilet Block.
