Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance today caught a Junior Engineer of Bhapur RW Section, Nayagarh, along with his associate while accepting a bribe of Rs 1,36,000 from a contractor.
According to Vigilance officials, the Junior Engineer, Keshab Subudhi, had been demanding ₹1.36 lakh from the contractor for clearing pending bills of construction and maintenance works executed under Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana (MMSY) for the year 2021-22 in the Khandapara area, and for releasing the security deposit after completion of the maintenance period.
The contractor had been repeatedly requesting the JE for the last 3-4 months to take measurements and facilitate the release of his security money. However, Subudhi allegedly demanded the bribe for doing the official work. Frustrated by the continuous harassment, the contractor approached the Odisha Vigilance and lodged a complaint.
The Junior Engineer called the contractor to his official quarters today at Khandapara and asked him to hand over the bribe money to his associate Ashutosh Baliarsingh, who was present there. A Vigilance team immediately swung into action and caught both accused red-handed while accepting the bribe.
The entire tainted bribe money of Rs 1,36,000 was recovered and seized on the spot. Following the trap, simultaneous searches are being conducted at two locations linked to the Junior Engineer from the disproportionate assets (DA) angle. Bhubaneswar Vigilance registered a case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 against both the accused. Investigation is in progress.
