Barpali: A junior clerk-cum-accountant at the Barpali Block Education Officer’s office in Bargarh district was arrested by Odisha Vigilance on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe from an official to process pending salary and bill documents.
The accused, Rajanikanta Kar, was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 6,000 as a bribe from Additional Block Education Officer (ABEO) Ratna Kumar Bhoi.
According to Vigilance officials, Kar had initially demanded Rs 10,000 to prepare and process the pending salary and bill documents of Bhoi.
Sources said Bhoi had already paid Rs 4,000 earlier, but Kar allegedly continued to demand the remaining Rs 6,000.
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Frustrated by the repeated demands, Bhoi lodged a complaint with Odisha Vigilance authorities. Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap and apprehended Kar while he was accepting the remaining Rs 6,000 from Bhoi.
The entire tainted bribe amount was recovered from Kar’s possession and seized. The trap operation was conducted by a team led by Vigilance DSPs Sulastri Chhatriya (Bolangir) and Sushama Tirkey (Bargarh), along with inspectors Tushar Kanta Mohapatra (Bargarh), Sukanta Pradhan and Dilip Pradhan (Sambalpur).
Officials said simultaneous searches are being conducted at two locations linked to Kar from the disproportionate assets (DA) angle.
In connection with the case, Sambalpur Vigilance Police Station Case No. 02 dated March 15, 2026, has been registered against Kar under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway.
