Baripada: The deputy general manager of the Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL) Mayurbhanj branch office, Yashwant Choudhary was Monday handed a five-year prison term for accepting a bribe of around Rs 3,000. The incident took place in 2017.
Hearing the 2017 graft case, Special Vigilance Judge Prasanna Panda found Choudhary guilty of accepting the bribe. The former DGM was also fined Rs 25,000. In case Choudhary fails to pay the penalty, he will spend an additional one year in prison.
It should be stated here that Choudhary had demanded a bribe of Rs 5,000 a person by the name of Kartikeswar Dutta. The latter is a local resident of Mayurbhanj town. Choudhary demanded the amount to pass a bill for a vehicle which was rented for official purposes.
Dutta informed the police regarding the demand. A trap was laid and Choudhary was caught red-handed by officials of the Baripada Vigilance department while he was accepting Rs 3,000 at his office October 25, 2017.