Odisha Vigilance officials today apprehended Divisional Accounts Officer Suraj Prasad Jaiswal and Senior Assistant Naresh Pattanaik from the Office of the Superintendent Engineer, Minor Irrigation, Gajapati, for allegedly accepting a Rs 30,000 bribe via UPI transaction (PhonePe) from a contractor.
The officials reportedly demanded the bribe in exchange for clearing pending bills worth Rs 32 lakhs linked to multiple work orders amounting to over Rs 86 lakhs. Each accused accepted Rs 15,000 through their respective smartphones, making digital corruption their downfall.
Acting on a tip-off, Odisha Vigilance sleuths successfully trapped the duo while accepting the bribe. Authorities confirmed the transaction’s receipt and are now conducting raids at two locations linked to the accused to investigate further.
A case has been registered under Berhampur Vigilance PS Case No.5/2025, U/s 7 PC (Amendment) Act, 2018, and an intensive probe is underway to unveil deeper corruption networks.
