The Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday apprehended two junior accountants from the Office of the Civil Supplies Officer (CSO), Angul, on charges of bribery.
The accused, Rajnarayan Sahoo and Jiten Patnaik, were caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹50,000 from the manager of a rice mill.
According to sources, the bribe was demanded in exchange for the disbursement of a pending bill amounting to over ₹60 lakhs related to Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK). For the past month, the rice mill manager had been requesting the release of the payment, but the two accountants allegedly refused to process it without the bribe. Facing harassment, the manager reported the matter to the Vigilance authorities.
Acting on the complaint, a team of Odisha Vigilance set a trap and successfully nabbed Sahoo and Patnaik while they were taking the bribe. The entire amount was recovered and seized from the accused. Following the arrest, simultaneous searches are being conducted at two locations linked to each of the accused as part of the ongoing investigation.
A case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigations are underway to uncover more details and ensure justice is served.
