Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Thursday apprehended a senior clerk of Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWS&S) posted at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district for allegedly taking Rs 20,000 bribe from a retired colleague.
The accused, identified as T Bhenkatagiri Rao, was caught in his government quarter at Bhawanipatana while taking bribe of Rs 20,000/- from a retired staffer of the same office to process file for extending pensionary benefits in his favour.
The complainant had retired on March 31, 2024. Since then, he had been requesting Rao to prepare his pension papers. Even after repeated requests, the accused was not processing the file, rather demanding Rs 20,000. Being aggrieved over the matter, the complainant reported the matter to vigilance authorities narrating his harassment by Rao.
Following this, a team of Vigilance nabbed Rao while taking the bribe money. On seeing the Vigilance team, Rao tried to dispose of the bribe money of Rs 20,000 by throwing it away through the window of his quarter. However, the alert Vigilance team nabbed Rao and recovered the entire tainted bribe money.
Following the successful trap, simultaneous searches are going on at three locations linked to Rao from Disproportionate Assets angle. A case has been registered and investigation is underway.