BARGARH: Vigilance officials caught two employees of Barpali community health centre (CHC) red-handed while they were allegedly taking `7,000 bribe from a health worker on Monday.
The accused are accountant Sekhar Chandra Sahu and peon Tamanna Sahu. The duo was apprehended while accepting the bribe money through PhonePe from the complainant, a health worker of Barpali CHC, to process his pending salary and sanction modified assured career progression (MACP) benefits, said the officials.
The complainant, who was recently promoted to the post of multi-purpose male health worker (MPMHW), had been approaching Sekhar to release his arrear dues for the past three months. However, the accountant allegedly demanded Rs 7,000 bribe to initiate the process. The complainant then reported the matter to the Vigilance department.
Acting on the complaint, officials of the anti-graft agency laid a trap to nab Sekhar. The complainant first tried to transfer the bribe amount to the accountant via PhonePe. But when the transaction failed, the amount was transferred to the peon’s account. The Vigilance team immediately apprehended the accused duo and seized their mobile phones.
Vigilance officials said it is being alleged that the accused accountant has taken bribes from other MPMHWs for similar purposes. Verification of these allegations is underway.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches were carried out at multiple locations linked to the accused duo including Sekhar’s residential house at Barpali, office room and peon Tamanna’s native place at Dunguripali in Sonepur district.
During the raid, a cash of `1,61,250 was recovered and seized from the Barpali house of accountant Sekhar. A case was registered under sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Both the accused have been arrested and will be produced in court, the officials added.