Corruption Crackdown: Two Officials Arrested for Bribery in Gajapati District

Vigilance Operation Leads to Arrests

Bhubaneswar: On Thursday, officials from the state Vigilance apprehended two employees from the Minor Irrigation department in Gajapati district for allegedly accepting a bribe totaling Rs 30,000 to approve outstanding contractor bills.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Suraj Prasad Jaiswal, a Divisional Accounts Officer, and Naresh Pattanaik, a Senior Assistant at the superintendent’s office.

According to a senior officer from the Vigilance department, both officials demanded Rs 15,000 each from a contractor who sought their assistance in clearing pending bills amounting to Rs 32 lakh. The contractor had previously received three work orders in his name and one in a relative's name, with the total value of these orders exceeding Rs 86 lakh.

Despite several requests, the officers refused to process the contractor's bills, prompting him to file a complaint with the Vigilance department after they demanded bribes for the delayed payments. Following the complaint, Vigilance agents set up a sting operation and caught Suraj and Naresh accepting the bribes via a mobile payment application on their phones.

After their arrest, the Vigilance team conducted simultaneous searches at various locations associated with the two officials to investigate any potential disproportionate assets. These searches are ongoing. The officials have been charged under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.