Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance on Friday caught Rabindranath Padhi, a senior clerk at the office of Harbhanga Block Education Officer (BEO) in Boudh district while taking Rs 20,000 bribe from a school teacher.
According to Vigilance, Sr. Clerk Padhi had demanded Rs 40,000 from the complainant school teacher to help her in an administrative matter. The complainant had been requesting Sr. Clerk Padhi, for the last six months to process her file. But Padhi was demanding a bribe. Finding no other way, the complainant informed about her harassment to the Vigilance Authority.
Today, Vigilance officials chalked out the plan and nabbed Padhi in his office room while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the school teacher as 1st instalment out of the overall demand of Rs 40,000. The entire bribe money was recovered from the possession of Padhi and seized in the presence of witnesses.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches have been launched on the parental house of Padhi at Hatipali village in Kunduma, Boudh, a residential house at Udayanagar, Sonepur and his office room, the Vigilance said.
The accused Senior Clerk Padhi has been arrested and will be forwarded to the Court. In this connection, Berhampur Vigilance PS Case No.08 dated 18.04.2024 U/s 7 Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered and is under investigation, the Vigilance added.
