Vigilance officials on Tuesday arrested Veterinary Assistant Surgeon Debashis Mohapatra at the Kantapada VAS office in Baleswar district for demanding and accepting bribe.
The accused had demanded the Rs 3,000 bribe from one Jagannath Jena of Panpana village for settlement of an insurance claim against death of the latter’s cow. The complainant alleged that he had claimed insurance benefit for his deceased cross breed jersey cow. When he requested Mohapatra for issuing cheque in favour of his wife Sanjukta to get the insurance benefit of his deceased cow, the accused demanded the bribe.
Finding no alternative, Jena reported the matter to Vigilance. later, a trap was laid and Mohapatra was caught red handed by a Vigilance team. Investigation is on into the case.
In another case, Vigilance sleuths on Tuesday conducted simultaneous raids on the residence and office of a pharmacist posted at a Government healthcare facility in Rayagada district on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Vigilance officials raided the houses at Kalyansinghpur and Rayagada belonging to Ashok Kumar Patra, who is posted at the PHC under Kalyansinghpur block. Besides, raids were also conducted at his office and two shops owned by him.
During search, so far, movable and immovable assets detected in the possession of Patra in his name and in the names of his family members amounted to a total of Rs 1.09 crore.
In yet another instance, an Amin of Baleswar district was arrested by Vigilance officials on Tuesday for taking bribe. The accused, Pradip Das, of Basudevpur tehsil in the district, was arrested while accepting Rs 1,000 bribe from one laxmikanta Swain for land demarcation.