Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance officials on Monday apprehended Dr. Siba Prasad Sethi, Medical Officer at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Kujang, Jagatsinghpur district, for demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹10,000 from a complainant in exchange for issuing a favourable and expedited post-mortem (PM) report of his deceased wife.
According to an official press release, the complainant’s wife had reportedly died due to suspected food poisoning, and Dr. Sethi had conducted the autopsy. The complainant, who is the husband of the deceased, had been requesting an early release of the PM report for insurance claim purposes. However, as the death occurred within seven years of marriage, the case attracted legal sensitivity, and Dr. Sethi allegedly demanded ₹10,000 to issue a favourable report without delay.
Finding no alternative, the complainant approached the Odisha Vigilance authorities, who laid a trap. Dr. Sethi was caught red-handed at his private clinic in Cuttack while accepting the bribe amount through his receptionist, Choudhury. The entire sum of ₹10,000 was recovered and seized from the spot.
Following the successful trap, simultaneous raids were launched at five locations linked to Dr. Sethi as part of an investigation into disproportionate assets (DA).
A case has been registered at the Cuttack Vigilance Police Station Dr Sethi under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway.
