Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths apprehended two officials from the office of the Rengali Block Education Officer (BEO) in Sambalpur district on charges of demanding and accepting bribes.
The accused are Dusmanta Kumar Sahu (Junior Assistant) and Gopabandhu Sahu (Peon) of the same office.
According to the Vigilance, Dusmanta allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000, with Rs 7,000 being the first instalment for processing the payment of salary and arrears to an employee of the same office. Dusmanta further Rs 18,000 to process his arrears.
The employee, who was being exploited, reported the matter to the vigilance authorities, leading to a trap being set. During the operation, the vigilance team caught Dusmanta accepting the bribe of Rs 7,000 through Gopabandhu. The entire bribe amount of Rs 7,000 has been recovered and seized by the vigilance team.
Searches are currently underway at three locations linked to Dusmanta and one location linked to Gopabandhu to uncover potential disproportionate assets.
A case has been registered against the accused duo under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the investigation is underway.
