Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance department has deployed over 100 officials to conduct raids at various places after the arrest of IAS officer Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya, who was suspended as Director of Horticulture, and Santosh Kumar Pattanayak, relationship manager of the YES Bank branch at Bapuji Nagar, Bhubaneswar, on Monday.
Vigilance sleuths had caught the 2009 batch IAS officer red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh money which he had allegedly demanded for passing a bill. Pattanayak was also caught for his alleged complicity in the crime.
According to a release by the Vigilance department, Upadhyaya had demanded the bribe from a representative of SRM Plastochem Private Ltd against release of payment of over Rs 50 lakh to the company’s account.
SRM Plastochem Private Ltd is an empanelled supplier under the Directorate of Horticulture, Odisha, for supply of sprinklers to farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
As per procedure, after supply of the sprinklers to eligible farmers, the deputy director of Horticulture of the districts concerned prepared bills after field verification and forwarded them to the office of the Director of Horticulture for final approval. After approval, payments were released to the account of the company concerned, the release said.
For approving the bills for payment to SRM Plastochem Pvt. Ltd, Upadhyaya had allegedly demanded part of the payment amount as bribe from the representative of SRM Plastochem Pvt. Ltd. The accused official had also directed the representative to pay the bribe amount to Pattanayak, who has been receiving bribes from different companies, dealers and suppliers on behalf of Upadhyaya.
Accordingly, a trap was laid on Monday and Pattanayak was caught red-handed by Vigilance officers after receipt of bribe of Rs 1 lakh from the complainant on behalf of Upadhyaya in front of YES Bank at Bapuji Nagar.
The bribe money was recovered from the pant pocket of Pattnayak and seized in presence of witnesses. Both hands wash as well as the pant pocket wash of Pattanayak gave positive chemical reaction confirming the acceptance and handling of tainted bribe money by him.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches were being conducted at the office, residence and the houses of the relatives of Upadhyaya and Pattnayak and other suspected officials of the Directorate of Horticulture in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Balasore.
The Vigilance department has registered a case of corruption against Upadhyaya and Pattnayak and taken them into custody for interrogation.
