Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday apprehended Keonjhar superintendent of excise Sitarani Pattayat and ASI-cum-OIC of Champua excise station Bijay Kumar Mohanta while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000.
The Pattayat had allegedly demanded illegal gratification from a licensed liquor vendor in exchange for allowing uninterrupted business operations.
According to the complaint, the vendor had been facing persistent demands for regu
lar payments from Pattayat since she took charge as the excise superintendent about four months ago. Following which, the vendor approached the Vigilance authorities, reporting repeated harassment and coercion.
Based on the complaint, a trap was laid and Mohanta was nabbed while allegedly accepting the bribe amount from the vendor on the telephonic instructions of Pattayat. Both officials were subsequently apprehended. The entire bribe amount was recovered and seized from the accused.
Simultaneous searches are currently underway at three locations linked to Pattayat and two locations associated with Mohanta to ascertain whether they have accumulated assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
A case has been registered against them under Section 7 of PC (Amendment) Act,2018, and further investigation is underway, a Vigilance release said.