Berhampur: A team of Vigilance sleuths Thursday caught an assistant engineer red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a contractor in Aska town of Ganjam district.
According to a senior Vigilance official, a contractor had filed a written report against the assistant engineer (electrical) Ishwar Das who presently works at Aska sub-division of Lift Irrigation department.
In the report, the contractor had alleged that the assistant engineer was demanding a bribe of Rs 50,000 to pass a bill raised for construction of riverside lift irrigation (LI) project under Buguda block in the district, the senior Vigilance official stated.
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Acting on the report, Vigilance sleuths laid a trap to nab the accused official.
The Vigilance team has registered a case in this connection and initiated simultaneous searches on properties owned by Das at three different places of Ganjam district. A detailed probe is underway.
PNN