Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday apprehended a junior clerk posted in the office of Mahakalpada Block Education Officer (BEO), Narayan Prasad Lenka, while allegedly accepting Rs 15,000 bribe from a headmaster in Kendrapada district.
According to a Vigilance release, he demanded the illegal gratification from a headmaster to process his final instalment of housing loan amounting to Rs 6.20 lakh as well as for clearing his pending salary, and TA bills.
Lenka delayed the process in an attempt to coerce the teacher into fulfilling his bribe demand.
Following a complaint with the Vigilance authorities, a trap was laid and the junior clerk was caught while accepting Rs 15,000 at Canal Road, Marshaghai. The entire bribe money was recovered from him and seized.
Simultaneous searches are currently underway at three locations linked to Lenka to ascertain whether he has accumulated assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
A case has been registered against him under Section 7 of PC (Amendment) Act, 2018, and further investigation is underway, the release added.