Odisha Vigilance Nabs Divisional Accounts Officer and Senior Assistant for Accepting Rs.30,000 Bribe

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance today apprehended Suraj Prasad Jaiswal, Divisional Accounts Officer (DAO), and Naresh Pattanaik, Senior Assistant, both from the Office of the Superintendent Engineer, Minor Irrigation, Gajapati, for accepting a bribe of Rs.30,000 through UPI transactions (PhonePe).

The duo was caught red-handed while each accepted Rs.15,000 from a contractor in exchange for clearing pending bills worth Rs.32 lakhs related to executed works.The contractor, who had been awarded three work orders and one additional order in the name of a relative, totaling over Rs.86 lakhs, approached Vigilance authorities after the accused demanded the bribe to process the bills and ensure clearance of remaining payments upon project completion.

Acting on the complaint, Vigilance officials set up a trap and nabbed Jaiswal and Pattanaik during the UPI transaction, with evidence of the Rs.30,000 bribe (Rs.15,000 each) clearly established on their smartphones.

Following the arrests, simultaneous searches are underway at two locations linked to each accused to investigate potential disproportionate assets. A case has been registered under Berhampur Vigilance PS Case No.5/2025, U/s 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. The investigation is ongoing, and further details are awaited.Detailed report to follow.