Odisha police ASI caught while taking bribe, arrested

Bhubaneswar: Odisha vigilance officials Thursday arrested an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police for taking Rs 5,000 bribe.

A vigilance sleuth caught the ASI, posted at Tigiria police station in Cuttack district, while taking the money from a complainant in exchange for settling a dispute between him and a villager.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches were launched at three locations linked to the ASI, he said.

Earlier in the day, vigilance sleuths arrested four government officials for allegedly embezzling Rs 20 lakh government funds.

Following allegations of misappropriation of funds under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, vigilance officials conducted a probe and found that the accused were involved in serious financial irregularities, an officer said.

The accused are an assistant project director, two soil conservation overseers and a soil conservation extension worker, he said, adding that all the four are serving in the office of project director (PD), watershed department, Rayagada.

According to the investigation, the accused siphoned off more than Rs 20 lakh by falsely claiming the excavation of 23 farm ponds in different villages of Kashipur block and fraudulently transferred the money to bank accounts of labourers with job cards and later withdrawn.

“These transactions are currently under verification,” the officer said.

A case has been registered at the Koraput Vigilance Police Station against all accused individuals, and further investigation is underway, he added.

PTI

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