3 officials arrested for taking bribes in Odisha

Three persons, including a junior engineer and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police, were arrested by Odisha's anti-graft vigilance sleuths for allegedly accepting bribes. 

Rashmi Ranjan Behera, Junior Engineer in Rayagada Municipality, was caught red-handed by vigilance officers while accepting Rs 50,000 bribe from a man on Saturday to prepare bills relating to the construction of a community toilet, a vigilance statement said. 

Following a complaint, a trap was laid and Behera was caught accepting the bribe money which was seized in presence of witnesses. While the junior engineer was arrested, searches were conducted at his residences at Rayagada and Bajuria in Dhenkanal. 

In another case, Prakash Kumar Mohanty, ASI of Police at Godishagada in Puri district, was caught by the officers of Vigilance for accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 from a man for conducting enquiry relating to a land dispute. 

The bribe money was seized in presence of the witnesses and the ASI was arrested, it said. 

In yet another case, Sarat Kumar Mishra, the 'Amin' in the record room in the office of the Tahasildar in Bhubaneswar was caught by vigilance officers on Saturday while accepting Rs 2,500 bribe from a man to issue a certified copy of land Patta (ROR).

(With inputs from agencies.)