Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Monday apprehended an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) and Junior Engineer (JE) of Lift Irrigation Corporation posted in Udala sub-division of Mayurbhanj district for allegedly taking Rs 60,000 bribe from a contractor.
The accused have been identified as AEE Harekrushna Sing, and JE Subrat Mohanty. Vigilance officers nabbed them while they were demanding and receiving part of the bribe amount to release the pending bills of the contractor.
According to official sources, the two had agreed to take Rs 1.10 lakh, calculated at 4.5% of the contractor’s pending bills, with Sing claiming 1.5% and Mohanty 3%.
The contractor had executed projects worth Rs 25 lakh. However, the engineers withheld bills of about Rs 5 lakh and also delayed the release of the security deposit. Faced with harassment, the contractor approached Vigilance authorities, leading to the trap operation.
During the raid, Vigilance recovered the entire tainted bribe money of Rs 60,000 from the possession of the accused officials. Simultaneous searches are underway at two locations linked to Sing and three locations linked to Mohanty to investigate disproportionate assets.
Following the operation, Balasore Vigilance Police Station registered Case No. 1/2026 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, against the accused duo.
