Thuamul Rampur(Kalahandi): Odisha Vigilance Wednesday arrested the principal of a government school for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a self-help group (SHG) functionary to clear pending bills for cleaning work, officials said.
Sitakanta Rana, principal of Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya (OAV), Thuamul Rampur in Kalahandi district, was apprehended while allegedly taking the bribe from the SHG functionary for facilitating the release of pending bills for three months in the current 2026-27 financial year towards cleaning work, they said.
According to vigilance officials, the SHG functionary had repeatedly requested Rana to clear the pending bills. However, Rana allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 as a bribe for processing the payment. Unable to pay the demanded amount, the complainant approached Odisha Vigilance, alleging harassment by the principal.
Acting on the complaint, a vigilance team laid a trap and caught Rana while he was allegedly accepting the bribe. The entire tainted amount of Rs 10,000 was recovered from his possession and seized, officials said.
Following the trap, vigilance launched simultaneous searches at two locations linked to Rana to investigate assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, they said.
A case has been registered against Rana at Koraput Vigilance Police Statio and further investigation is in progress, officials said.
On Tuesday, Odisha Vigilance had arrested the panchayat executive officer of Kachara Sahi panchayat in Jajpur district after catching him allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a beneficiary for releasing the final instalment under the Antyodaya Gruha Yojana (AGY).