By Narendra Raut, OP
Koraput: Vigilance sleuths Tuesday caught Sambit Tripathy, a junior clerk at the office of the Block Education Officer (BEO), Nandapur, while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000.
Sharing the details, the anti-corruption wing officials said the bribe amount was the first instalment of a Rs 30,000 demand made to process the pending salaries and revised pension benefits of a deceased primary school teacher.
The teacher passed away October 27, 2019, while in service. His widow — an elderly woman — has been surviving on a modest family pension. Though the competent authority sanctioned the RACP/MACP benefi ts June 11, 2025, Tripathy deliberately delayed the file, apparently to extort money from the widow.
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Acting on her complaint, the Vigilance team laid a trap and caught Tripathy red-handed while accepting the bribe. The entire tainted money has been recovered and seized from his possession.
The operation was conducted under the supervision of Additional SP, Vigilance, Koraput Division, AK Mallick and executed by a team comprising three DSPs and three inspectors, including inspector Surya Prakash Naik.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches are underway at two locations associated with Tripathy to assess disproportionate assets.
A case (26/2025) has been registered under Koraput Vigilance division under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is in progress.
