Nabarangpur, Feb 23: Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Sunday apprehended two officials of the Agriculture Office in Umerkote area of Nabarangpur district for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000.
The accused officials have been identified as Assistant Agriculture Officer (AAO) Nilakantha Parida and Block Technology Manager Surendrasingh Bundela.
As per reports, the duo had demanded Rs 5,000 bribe from a beneficiary of the Jalanidhi scheme in exchange for crediting the subsidy amount in favor of the beneficiary for digging a bore-well on his land.
Following this, the beneficiary reported the matter to Odisha Vigilance. Acting on the complaint, Vigilance sleuths laid a trap and caught the duo red-handed while accepting the bribe.
The anti-corruption bureau officials have recovered the entire bribe money from the possession of the accused and seized it.
Following the arrest, Vigilance officials have launched simultaneous searches at three locations linked to Parida and two locations associated with Bundela to investigate the disproportionate asset (DA) angle.
Further investigation into the matter is underway and more details are awaited.
