Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday apprehended Sumanta Naik, Junior Engineer under the National Health Mission (NHM) at the office of CDM & PHO in Sundargarh, for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a contractor.
According to a Vigilance statement, Naik had demanded the bribe to process an application for the return of the Initial Security Deposit (ISD) related to the repair and renovation of a PHC building and staff quarters. Despite the completion of the work, he refused to release the deposit without payment. The contractor reported the matter to Vigilance authorities, leading to a trap operation.
A Vigilance team apprehended Naik inside his office while accepting the bribe. Officials recovered the tainted money from his possession and seized it.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches began at three locations linked to Naik to investigate disproportionate assets.
A case has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Investigation is in progress.
