Bolangir: Bolangir district agriculture officer (DAO) was caught red-handed while taking illegal gratification from a person Tuesday.
Officers of the Vigilance department caught the officer, identified as Himanshu Sekhar Padhi, while taking Rs 7,000 from the complainant.
According to a source, Durjyodhan Barik, a resident of Pandakitala village, owns a fertiliser shop. He is entitled to get a point of sale (POS) machine free of cost to sell fertiliser at his shop. For this, he had met Padhi. To issue a machine for his shop, the latter had demanded Rs 7,000 as bribe from the former.
Barik had sought the intervention of the Vigilance department in this connection. Subsequently, a plan was chalked out. As per the plan, Barik gave Padhi the chemical-laced currency notes at the latter’s office and the Vigilance sleuths caught him red-handed.
Padhi is learnt to have denied the allegations levelled against him.
Following this, separate teams of the Vigilance department carried out simultaneous raids on his properties at three places in Bolangir and Khurda district.
The exact value of his moveable and immoveable properties is yet to be ascertained as the raids are underway.
PNN