Bargarh: Two senior education officials in Bargarh were suspended Friday after being arrested in connection with allegations of sexual harassment of a woman employee, abuse of official position and financial irregularities, officials said.
The School and Mass Education department placed Bargarh District Education Officer (DEO) Jyotikanta Sahu, 45, and Block Education Officer (BEO) Surendra Kumar Sahu, 45, under suspension through separate orders issued Friday.
Both officials have been lodged in Bargarh District Jail since their arrest by Bargarh Town police April 30. According to the departmental orders, Surendra Sahu will remain attached to the office of the District Chief Education Officer, Bargarh, after his release from jail, while Jyotikanta Sahu has been directed to report to the Regional Directorate of Education in Sambalpur during the suspension period.
In an earlier action linked to the case, Bargarh Collector Aditya Goyal suspended Samir Kumar Panigrahi, 51, a physical education teacher at Satalma High School in Barpali block.
A case has been registered at Bargarh Town police station under several provisions of the BNS, along with sections of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The investigation is continuing.