Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday apprehended an Assistant Engineer of the Rural Works (Public Health) Division in Bhubaneswar while allegedly accepting a bribe to clear pending work bills.
A Vigilance statement said that the accused, identified as Naresh Kumar Das, demanded and accepted a Rs one lakh bribe from a contractor at his office in Bhubaneswar to process pending bills worth approximately Rs seven lakh.
Acting on a complaint, Vigilance officials set a trap and apprehended Das while he was accepting the bribe.
The Vigilance also recovered and seized Rs 1.26 lakh more in cash from Das, which is suspected to be illicitly acquired. Total cash amounting to Rs 2.26 lakh was seized from the accused.
Following this, Vigilance teams conducted searches at his residence and other locations.
In this connection, Bhubaneswar Vigilance PS Case 5/2025 U/s-7PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered against the Assistant Engineer.
Further investigation in the case is in progress.