Dhenkanal: Malaya Nayak, a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Hindol in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, was allegedly caught taking Rs 30,000 bribe by Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday.
Nayak was apprehended near Karanda Chhak while receiving the bribe money from a stone mine leaseholder for facilitating free passage of his vehicles.
Following this, Cuttack Vigilance registered a case U/S 7 PC Amendment Act 2018 and conducted simultaneous searches on Nayak’s properties at 6 places in Bhubaneswar, Puri, Angul, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur districts.
RAID DETAILS
1. Double-storey building at Amlapada, Angul.
2. Double-storey building at Dhanupalli, Sambalpur.
3. Flat No.503 at Tata Ariana, Shankarpur, Bhubaneswar.
4. Flat at Kashi Jagannathpur, Puri.
5. One plot at Saralakana, Sambalpur.
It is being suspected that Nayak collected bribes from various persons locally in cash as well as through electronic means such as ATM deposits, Phone Pe, and Google Pay, which are under verification. A team comprising, cyber cell and banking consultant of Odisha Vigilance, are examining the financial transactions, an official release said.
Details of investments and deposits made in banks, insurance, and other schemes are also being verified.
The Vigilance sleuths also informed that Nayak’s wife Rita Mahapatra fled from the residential quarter at Hindol on a two-wheeler with one brief case and a carry bag soon after her husband was caught taking bribe. The quarter, which was found locked, is being searched in presence of an executive magistrate. Efforts are on to trace her, the release added.
