Bhubaneswar: Vigilance officials on Sunday arrested a govt junior engineer and his associate, who is not related to any govt sector, in Nayagarh district for allegedly taking Rs 1.36 lakh bribe from a contractor to clear his pending bills.
The junior engineer was identified as Keshab Subudhi, serving in the rural works section at Bhapur in Nayagarh.
Vigilance sleuths identified his associate as Ashutosh Baliarsingh.
“Baliarsingh was accepting the bribe on behalf of Subudhi in the govt quarters of the engineer in Khandapara,” said a vigilance official.
Vigilance officials said Subudhi withheld the contractor’s payments related to construction and maintenance works under Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana (2021-22) in Khandapara, Nayagarh. According to govt norms, contractors are entitled to the release of their security deposits upon completion of maintenance works, provided measurements are taken.
Despite repeated requests over the past three to four months, Subudhi allegedly demanded Rs 1.36 lakh to facilitate the release of the security money.
Acting on the complaint by the contractor, vigilance officials laid a trap on Sunday afternoon, leading to the arrest of Subudhi and Baliarsingh.
Simultaneous searches were conducted at Subudhi’s govt quarters in Khandapara, a flat at Hanspal in Bhubaneswar, and his office room.
During the search, officials seized 17 withdrawn currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination from his quarters. Records show Subudhi joined govt service on Feb 25, 2014, as a contractual junior engineer in Nabarangpur.
He was transferred to Nayagarh on Sept 1, 2020, and his service was regularised on Oct 18, 2022.
Debabrata Mohapatra is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India,...
Read MoreDebabrata Mohapatra is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Bhubaneswar. He had been writing for TOI from Puri since 2006 before joining the Bhubaneswar bureau in August 2010. He covers crime, law & order and Congress.
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