Bhubaneswar: A senior bureaucrat of the state Monday fell into the trap of the vigilance sleuths while receiving Rs 1 lakh as bribe in lieu of giving permission for a farm house. Meanwhile, the state government has also placed the accused 2009 batch IAS officer, Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya under suspension with immediate effect following the graft charge. The state government in a notification remarked, “Transparency is an important pillar of this government and we will not spare anyone indulging in any corrupt practices.”
Upadhyaya was working as the director of state Horticulture department. He also worked as the collector of Kalahandi and Jagatsinghpur.
Sources claimed that he was caught red-handed while receiving the amount from the complainant in order to give permission for the farm house. Subsequently, the anti corruption sleuths carried out simultaneous raids at his offices as well as the official residence here and paternal residence at Soro in Balasore.
The sleuths reportedly set a trap to catch him red-handed after a complaint lodged by the complainant.
Notably, in a recent reply to an assembly question, the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik revealed that the vigilance department has filed 11 cases against nine IAS officers and 227 cases against OAS officers between January 1, 2010 and June 30, 2019. Out of 11 cases against nine IAS officers, the department has filed charge-sheets in six cases while investigation is still continuing in four cases while the final report has been submitted against one IAS officer. Similarly, senior IAS officer, Vinod Kumar, convicted in a corruption case related to massive irregularities in the Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (OHRDC) during 1999-2000, is currently on bail.