Bhubaneswar: Vigilance sleuths of Odisha Police have also arrested a bank relationship manager who allegedly accepted bribe on behalf of IAS officer Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya.
The bureaucrat was arrested from his office soon after Santosh Kumar Pattnayak, the relationship manager of Bapuji Nagar branch of YES Bank here, was apprehended in front of his office while accepting the bribe from a sprinkler irrigations systems supplier Monday, a vigilance statement released Tuesday said.
The bank personnel had been receiving bribes from different companies, dealers and suppliers on behalf of the 2009-batch IAS officer, the statement further stated.
Following the development, the Odisha government placed Upadhyaya under suspension with immediate effect. The senior IAS officer was the Director of the Odisha Horticulture Department.
Pattnayak had received the bribe of Rs 1,00,000 on behalf of the bureaucrat from the representative of SRM Plastochem Private Ltd. For approving payment of Rs 50 lakh to the company, the statement said.
SRM Plastochem Private Ltd is an empanelled supplier under Directorate of Horticulture for supply of sprinklers to eligible farmers in Odisha under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
Meanwhile, Upadhyaya’s father claimed that his son has been trapped ‘as part of a conspiracy’.
PNN & Agencies