Puri Accountant, Balangir Amin Held for Alleged Bribery by Odisha Vigilance

Puri: In a crackdown on corruption, Odisha Vigilance sleuths apprehended two government officials on Thursday for allegedly accepting bribes. An accountant with the Block Education Officer (BEO) in Puri, and an Amin in Balangir’s Saintala block, were caught red-handed during separate sting operations.

The accountant, Bikash Kumar Senapati, was caught red-handed accepting Rs 5,000 from a retired teacher, allegedly in exchange for issuing a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to release his gratuity.

Meanwhile, Nirmalendu Kabi, the Amin, was accused of delaying the demarcation of a land per the Tehsildar’s court orders and demanding Rs 8,000 for the process. Vigilance authorities intervened when the complainant reported the incident and trapped Kabi while accepting the bribe.

Following the arrests, Vigilance officials are conducting simultaneous searches at the residences of both Senapati and Kabi to investigate any assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Both have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.