Koraput: Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday arrested the executive engineer of rural works division-I of Rayagada district for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a contractor in lieu of clearing pending bills and issuing a work experience certificate required for participation in a tender process.The accused, identified as Prasanna Kumar Pattnaik, executive engineer, RWD-I, Rayagada, was produced before the court of the special udge, Vigilance, Jeypore, following his arrest and was sent to judicial custody.Officials said Pattnaik had allegedly demanded Rs 2 lakh from a contractor for clearing bills relating to completed works and for issuing a work experience certificate to facilitate the contractor’s participation in a tender process and secure future work contracts. Based on a complaint from the contractor, a trap was meticulously planned and executed. The accused officer was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh. The entire amount was recovered from his possession and both hand-wash tests yielded positive chemical reactions, confirming his handling of the tainted money, said SP (vigilance) S Sushree. Following the trap, Vigilance teams conducted simultaneous searches at the officer’s government quarters in Rayagada, his residential building in Nandan Vihar under Info City police limits in Bhubaneswar, his native house in Nayagarh town, and his office chamber.During the searches, officials unearthed and seized cash amounting to Rs 3.39 lakh from his government quarters at Rayagada. With the recovery of the bribe amount, the total cash seized in the case has reached Rs 5.39 lakh, said officials.According to a release, the searches also revealed substantial movable and immovable assets allegedly linked to the officer, including a palatial triple-storeyed building in Nandan Vihar, Bhubaneswar, 11 high-value plots in Bhubaneswar and Nayagarh, two luxury vehicles a koda Slavia and a Mahindra XUV700 and a real estate and construction firm named Infinity Developer in the name of his spouse.The searches have led to the detection of significant assets, including cash, landed properties, vehicles and a construction company. A detailed inquiry into the disproportionate assets angle has been initiated and further investigation is continuing, the SP said. Officials said that investigations are underway to ascertain the extent of assets accumulated by the accused and whether they are disproportionate to his known sources of income.
