Bhubaneswar: Odisha vigilance Tuesday arrested two engineers for accepting bribes from complainants in two separate cases, an official said.
They are Suchismita Parija, assistant engineer, Lamtaput block in Koraput district, and Susmita Oram, junior engineer, Gaisilet block in Bargarh district, the vigilance said in a press statement.
Parija was arrested while taking a bribe of Rs 8,000 from a complainant in her residential government quarters at Lamtaput, it said.
She had demanded Rs 15,000 from the complainant for facilitating the release of bills for payment of labourers engaged under MGNREGA.
She was caught while accepting the final installment of the bribe amount, the vigilance department said.
Later, the vigilance launched raids on the residential government quarters of Parija and her rented house at Semiliguda in the district.
Oram was arrested by vigilance officials while taking a bribe of Rs 8,000 from the contractor (complainant) as the last installment of her overall demand of Rs 32,000 for measurement and clearing pending bills in connection with the road improvement work under MGNREGA, the release said.
The JE had joined government service under the district rural development agency (DRDA), Bargarh, in January 2024. This was her first posting, a vigilance officer said.
The estimated cost of the work is Rs 9.50 lakh, out of which, bills worth Rs 3.15 lakh have been paid earlier, he added.
The official said the JE was demanding a bribe of 10 per cent of the bill amount to clear pending bills. Out of the total demanded amount Rs 32,000, she had earlier taken Rs 24,000 a few days ago and was demanding the remaining amount of Rs 8,000.
The entire bribe money has been recovered from the possession of the JE and seized, it said.
