BERHAMPUR: The CBI has arrested a public relations officer (PRO) of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) office in Berhampur for allegedly accepting a bribe of 10,000 from a private company representative.
Basing on a complaint by Suraj Kumar Dash of Chaityanya Nagar in Berhampur, CBI sleuths laid a trap in which Anil Ratha, the PRO at the regional office of EPFO, was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting bribe to approve the authorised digital signature in unified portal of EPFO on behalf of M/s Jagannath Infratech and M/s Uttam Padhi.
Ratha met the company representative at Lanjipalli in Berhampur to take the bribe amount, when CBI sleuths arrested him. The bribe amount was seized and he was taken to Bhubaneswar for further interrogation. It is suspected that more EPFO officials might be involved in the case.
In a press release, CBI DIG (ACB), Bhubaneswar Akhilesh Kumar Singh said the complaint was verified and the complainant was told to pay the bribe amount to set a trap. A case has been registered against Ratha and others. The matter is being investigated by DSP,CBI Girish Kumar Pradhan.