Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday apprehended Ambika Prasad Rath, an auditor in the office of the Regional Director of Education (RDE), Bhubaneswar, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a staff member of a degree college in Khurda district.
The bribe was allegedly sought to carry out service verification, correct pay fixation statements under the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) scheme as per the employee’s service book, and enable the drawl of due pay.
According to Vigilance officials, the complainant approached Rath for official assistance related to his MACP benefits. Rath allegedly demanded Rs 4,000 to process the files and facilitate the release of payments. Distressed by the demand, the staffer reported the matter to the Odisha Vigilance authorities. Following which, a Vigilance team laid a trap and caught Rath red-handed while accepting Rs 4,000 from the complainant. The entire bribe amount was recovered from his possession and seized as evidence.
Subsequently, simultaneous searches were conducted at Rath’s office and residence during which additional Rs 1.28 lakh in cash was recovered.
The Vigilance suspects the seized cash was part of bribes collected earlier in the day.
A case has been registered at Bhubaneswar Vigilance police station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 against the accused auditor and further investigation is underway.
