Deogarh: Ajit Kumar Mohapatra, Superintendent of Excise of Deogarh district was Wednesday evening arrested by the State Vigilance for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 3 lakh from a liquor vendor.
The anti-corruption wing also arrested Barkote Excise ASI Mathura Mohan Pradhan red-handed while he was accepting the bribe on behalf of Mohapatra.
According to the Vigilance department sources, Mohapatra demanded the bribe amount through Pradhan from the country liquor vendor at Bidei village of Badakuda panchayat under Barkote police limits.
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Acting on an FIR earlier lodged by the liquor vendor Rajendra Jaiswal, the Vigilance sleuths laid a trap to nab Mohapatra. The complainant negotiated with the Excise superintendent to pay him the demanded bribe amount in two phases of Rs 1.5 lakh each.
Accordingly, Mohapatra had sent Pradhan to receive Rs 1.5 lakh. Later, the Vigilance team carried out simultaneous raids on houses owned by Mohapatra in Deogarh and Berhampur.
Detailed probe against the Excise superintendent and ASI is underway. In this connection, Rourkela Vigilance PS Case (No-9, dated-28.09.2021, U/s 7 PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered, the department source stated.
PNN