Odisha Vigilance arrested Ambika Prasad Rath, Auditor at the Regional Director of Education (RDE) office in Bhubaneswar, for accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a college staffer.
Officials said Rath demanded the bribe to facilitate drawl of pay under the MACP scheme.
Vigilance sleuths trapped Rath in his office and recovered the bribe amount. Following the arrest, teams conducted simultaneous searches at his residence in Madhusudan Nagar and his office room. Investigators seized Rs 28,70,900 in cash, including Rs 27,42,900 from his residence and Rs 1,28,000 from his office drawer. Rath failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the huge cash recovery.
Authorities confirmed that Rath, born on April 18, 1971, joined government service as an Auditor in the RDE office on June 26, 2000, with an initial salary of Rs 6,000. He has continued in the same post for over 25 years.
Officials said Rath was forwarded to the Hon’ble Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar today. Further investigation is continuing to trace the source of the seized cash and examine possible links to other irregularities.
