BHUBANESWAR: A sub-inspector (SI) here was allegedly caught red handed while accepting Rs 2,000 bribe from a person to hand him over his driving licence impounded for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The accused, Priyabrata Pradhan, posted at Saheed Nagar police station, had demanded Rs 5,000 from the complainant to hand him over his seized driving licence. Pradhan had received Rs 3,000 from the complainant on Thursday.
On receiving information, Vigilance officers conducted a raid and caught Pradhan red-handed while accepting the balance amount inside the police station on Saturday evening. Sources said Saheed Nagar police had registered a case against the complainant around two days back for driving his car under the influence of alcohol.
The police have launched a stringent drive against drunk driving to reduce road accidents and fatalities arising out of them. The city police are seizing vehicles of violators involved in offences - drunk driving, jumping red light, using mobile phone while driving and driving against the flow of traffic.
The police are submitting prosecution reports against violators in courts. The violators have to pay fines in courts and get their seized vehicles from police stations. The city police are also writing to the RTOs here to suspend the driving licence of a person for three months if he/she is found to have committed any of the above four offences for the first time.
“Usually, police do not seize the driving licence of the violators. They collect the details of a violator’s DL online and then recommend the RTOs to suspend it. Pradhan may have deliberately taken the complainant’s DL in his possession for personal monetary gains,” said police sources.
Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar Vigilance has registered a case in this connection and launched an investigation into the matter. The anti-corruption agency then carried out simultaneous searches at Pradhan’s rented accommodation in VSS Nagar area here and house in Rebana Nuagaon in Puri district.