Paradip port doctor under CBI scanner for accepting bribe to issue Covid clearance; cash worth crores, dollars detected 

Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)  caught Dr Rajendra Narayan Panigrahi, an officer of the Port Health Organisation (PHO), Paradip, red-handed while accepting bribes from crew members of a shipping company named Eminence Shipping Agencies. 

Subsequently, officers of the central agency carried out raids at multiple places including his residence in Cuttack, ancestral house in Balasore and office in Paradip.

Cash worth Rs 1 crore, foreign liquor, foreign cigarettes, and foreign perfumes of various brands were seized from Panigrahi’s possession during the house searches.

According to a source, the PHO’s main function among others is to provide COVID  clearance certificates to those coming from other countries.

As per the allegations, Dr Panigrahi used to demand a bribe of Rs 1500 to 2000 from each crew member to give them the said certificate.

Yesterday, he demanded over Rs 1 lakh from 70 crew members of the Eminence Shipping Agencies. It was when the crew members were giving him Rs 50,000 that the CBI officials caught him red-handed.