BERHAMPUR: Vigilance officials on Wednesday reportedly caught the assistant fisheries officer of Polasara block in Ganjam red-handed while he was accepting Rs 8,000 bribe from a person to release subsidy amount for procurement of fish spawn.
The accused, Suresh Behera, had demanded the bribe from a beneficiary of ‘input assistance to develop network of fish seed growers for early bred spawn ‘ scheme. The bribe was sought to release a subsidy amount of around Rs 1.38 lakh and money receipt for procurement of fish spawn.
The beneficiary had invested Rs 2,31,390 for fish feed and other project-related expenses, including Rs 43,000 for procuring fish spawn through the accused officer. However, Behera reportedly did not issue a money receipt for the `43,000 payment in favour of the beneficiary.
Vigilance said the accused officer delayed the process and insisted that the beneficiary pay him a bribe of Rs 8,000 via UPI to release the subsidy amount and issue the required money receipt. The beneficiary reported the matter to the Vigilance authorities, following which a trap was laid and Behera caught while receiving the bribe. His mobile phone was seized immediately following the transaction.