In a swift anti-corruption operation, the Odisha Vigilance today apprehended Ambika Prasad Rath, an Auditor in the Office of the Regional Director of Education (RDE), Bhubaneswar, while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a staff member of a degree college in Khordha district.
The accused allegedly demanded the bribe to verify the staffer’s service records, make necessary corrections in pay fixation statements under the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) scheme, and facilitate the drawl of due pay benefits as per the service book.
The complainant, a staffer from the college, approached the Vigilance authorities after Rath demanded the illegal gratification. Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap and caught the auditor red-handed while he was receiving the bribe amount.
The entire bribe money of Rs 4,000 was recovered from Rath’s possession and seized on the spot.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches were conducted at Rath’s office and residence from the disproportionate assets (DA) angle. During the searches, additional cash amounting to Rs 1.28 lakh was recovered from his office drawer and personal possession. The Vigilance suspects this amount represents bribes collected earlier in the day.
A case has been registered at Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station vide Case No. 04/2026 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 against the accused. Investigation is ongoing.
