Bhubaneswar: Vigilance sleuths on Thursday nabbed Simadri Srikanta Rao, Assistant Director (Technical) of Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) in Bhubaneswar while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 from an agency for facilitating release of pending bills.
The accused, identified as Simadri Srikanta Rao, was caught while allegedly taking bribe for signing the Performance Certificate required for release of the balance amount towards installation of a 60 KW Solar Power Plant at WALMI (Water and Land Management Institute), Cuttack.
For the release of the pending bills towards the installation of the above said solar plant, the executant, on behalf of the agency, had been requesting Rao for a long time. However, Rao was demanding Rs 30,000 bribe from the executant to sign performance certificate for release of the pending amount in favour of the agency even after completion of the work.
However, Rao reduced the bribe amount to Rs 10,000 on negotiation. Being aggrieved by the demand of the bribe, the executant approached the vigilance authorities about the matter.
Following this, a team of Odisha Vigilance nabbed Rao while taking 10,000 from the executant. The entire tainted bribe money has been recovered from the exclusive possession of accused Sri Rao and seized.
Following the successful trap, simultaneous searches are going on at three locations linked to Rao from disproportionate assets angle.
A case has been registered against Rao and investigation is in progress.
