Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned senior Odisha cadre IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi in connection with its probe into a bribery case of Rs 10 lakh. The CBI has already arrested a senior officer of a central PSU, a director of a private company and a private person in the case.
On the central probe agency on December 10 issued the letter to Sethi, who is currently serving as principal secretary of state SC/ST, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) and Odia Language, literature and culture department.
Sources said Sethi skipped the summon on December 11 and sought time through his counsel. Sethi has yet to comment on the issue.
“It is learnt that you are acquainted with some important and relevant facts and circumstances of the instant CBI case, which are required to be ascertained from you. It’s therefore requested that you may kindly join the investigation of the instant CBI case,” the letter read.
According to sources, Sethi’s driver has also been summoned in the case.
Though the exact reasons behind the summon to Sethi is not known, sources said Sethi, as principal secretary of the SC/ST development department, he assigned projects to the Bridge and Roof Co. (India) Limited, a Miniratna central PSU.
On December 7, the CBI arrested Chanchal Mukherjee, group general manager of Bridge and Roof Co. (India) Limited for demanding a bribe of Rs 10 lakh, delivered to him by the director of a private company based in Bhubaneswar. The agency, which claims to have caught Mukherjee red-handed, allegedly recovered the bribe money from an SUV.
Another private person was arrested for his role as co-conspirator in abetting and facilitating the exchange of undue advantage.
The CBI registered a case under section 61(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under sections 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against three people and some unknown public servants and private persons.
Following the arrests, the agency also conducted searches at eight locations in Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, in which “incriminating documents”, a vehicle used in the commission of the offence and digital devices were seized, said CBI sources.
