Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Saturday apprehended two government officials in Hinjilicut, Ganjam district for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from an Anganwadi worker.
The accused have been identified as B. Uma Patro, ICDS Supervisor and Narasingha Behera, Junior Revenue Assistant (JRA), both working in the office of the CDPO, Hinjilicut.
According to Vigilance, the duo had demanded Rs 30,000 from an Anganwadi worker for releasing the house rent of her Anganwadi Centre pending for the last 11 months. They had threatened that if the bribe was not paid, they would block the release of house rent for the coming months as well.
Finding no alternative, the Anganwadi worker lodged a complaint with the Vigilance authorities. Acting on the complaint, a team of Odisha Vigilance laid a trap today and caught both Patro and Behera red-handed while accepting the bribe amount of Rs 30,000 from the complainant inside the CDPO office premises.
The entire tainted bribe money has been recovered and seized from their possession. Following the trap, simultaneous searches are underway at the residential premises of both accused from a disproportionate assets angle. In this connection, Berhampur Vigilance PS registered a case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
