Kendujhar: Odisha Vigilance officials on Sunday arrested Kendujhar District Labour Officer (DLO) Akash Bisoi for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from an electrical contractor for issuing a labour licence.
According to Vigilance authorities, the contractor was assigned electrical installation work by TPNODL and had to obtain a licence to engage workers.
The contractor submitted an online application for the licence on August 14, following the prescribed procedure of Odisha government’s Labour & ESI Department.
Two days later, the contractor enquired about the status of his application. Bisoi then allegedly demanded Rs 20,000 for processing and issuing the licence.
The contractor then approached the Vigilance department and lodged a complaint, alleging harassment by the officer.
Acting on the complaint, a team of Odisha Vigilance laid a trap and caught Bisoi red-handed on Sunday evening.
The entire amount of Rs 20,000 was recovered from Bisoi’s possession and seized.
Vigilance officials carried out simultaneous searches at two locations linked to the accused officer to ascertain whether he had accumulated disproportionate assets.
Baleshwar Vigilance police station registered a case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
