Rourkela: The Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday apprehended two staffers of the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Rourkela, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹26,000 to process Fresh Registration Certificates (FRC) for two auctioned trucks.
The accused have been identified as Niranjan Sandha, Dealing Clerk-cum-Night Watcher, and Dharmendra Kumar Behera, IT Executive, both posted at the RTO Rourkela office.
According to vigilance sources, the complainant had recently purchased the two trucks through an auction conducted by IndusInd Bank after the previous owner defaulted on loan repayments. He applied for FRCs for the vehicles at the Rourkela RTO as required under Odisha Transport Department rules. Despite repeated requests, Sandha allegedly delayed processing the applications and demanded ₹13,000 per truck, totalling ₹26,000.
Aggrieved by the demand, the owner approached the vigilance authorities.
A vigilance team subsequently trapped the duo while allegedly accepting the bribe. The entire tainted amount of ₹26,000 was recovered from them and seized.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches are underway at three locations linked to Sandha as part of a disproportionate assets probe. A case has been registered against them under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and further investigation is underway.
