Bribery Case: Know What Suspended Odisha IAS Officer Said Before Being Sent On Remand

Bhubaneswar: Suspended IAS officer Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya on Tuesday said that he had been framed in the bribery case.

While being taken to the Special Vigilance Court, he told mediapersons that some staff of his department, including a top level official, falsely accused him of taking bribe to settle scores.

“I didn’t receive any money from anybody,” Upadhyay said. He was serving as Director of Horticulture.

However, the court rejected his bail plea and allowed vigilance sleuths to take him on a six-day remand for further questioning.

On Monday, vigilance sleuths had caught the 2009 batch IAS officer red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh which he had allegedly demanded for passing a bill. Santosh Kumar Pattanayak, relationship manager of the YES Bank branch at Bapuji Nagar, Bhubaneswar, was also arrested for his alleged complicity in the crime.

Pattanayak had been receiving bribes from different companies, dealers and suppliers on behalf of the IAS officer, a statement issued by vigilance said.