Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Saturday apprehended an Accountant-cum-Data Entry Operator (ADEO) at Talapada Gram Panchayat of Badasahi block Mayurbhanj district for allegedly taking bribe from a poor farmer.
The accused, identified as Hemanta Kumar Behera, was caught while demanding and taking bribe of Rs 2500/- from the farmer, a beneficiary under MGNREG scheme, for generation of work code in respect of the farm pond sanctioned in his favour.
Under this scheme, farm pond eligibility primarily targets less privileged groups of the society like SC/ST, BPL, and small/ marginal farmers
etc. As code generation is required for issue of work order, the beneficiary had been requesting ADEO Behera for over a month since sanction of the Farm Pond in his favour to generate the code. However, Behera demanded Rs 2500/- bribe from him.
Being a poor marginal farmer, the beneficiary was not able to pay the demanded bribe and, therefore, expressed his inability.
As Behera insisted on demanded bribe, the beneficiary approached the Vigilance authorities narrating his harassment. Earlier, complaints were received against Behera for taking bribes from other beneficiaries. Following this, a team of Odisha Vigilance nabbed accused Behera while taking demanded bribe of Rs 2500/- from the beneficiary. The entire bribe money has been recovered from the possession of Behera and seized.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches are going on at two locations linked to Behera from Disproportionate Assets angle. A case has been registered against the accused and investigation is in progress