Bhubaneswar: Vigilance has arrested Assistant Director (Technical) of the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA), for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 10,000.
Simadri Srikanta Rao was caught while taking the bribe from an agency representative for signing the Performance Certificate required for releasing the balance payment for a 60 KW Solar Power Plant installed at the Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI), Cuttack.
The bribery scandal came to light when the agency representative, frustrated with Rao’s demands, approached the vigilance authorities. Rao had initially demanded Rs. 30,000, but later settled for Rs. 10,000 after negotiations. The vigilance team recovered the entire bribe amount from Rao’s possession.
A case has been registered against Rao under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Searches are underway at three locations linked to Rao as part of the investigation.
