Bhubaneswar, 08 October (H.S.): Odisha Vigilance on Thursday apprehended a programmer attached to the District Education Officer-cum-District Project Coordinator (DEO-cum-DPC), Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Jagatsinghpur, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 for facilitating the release of pending bills.

The accused has been identified as Chandrajit Parija, Programmer in the office of the DEO/DPC, SSA, Jagatsinghpur.

According to Odisha Vigilance, Parija allegedly demanded the bribe from an executant for clearing pending bills related to the installation of digital blackboards in schools across Jagatsinghpur district.

Parija was a member of the procurement and technical committee responsible for inspecting the installation work. His certification was required for the release of the bills in favour of the executant.

The complainant had allegedly made several requests to Parija to inspect the completed work, but the official allegedly delayed the process and demanded Rs 30,000 for facilitating clearance of the pending bills.

Following the complaint, Odisha Vigilance laid a trap and apprehended Parija while he was allegedly accepting the bribe from the complainant on Thursday.

The entire bribe amount of Rs 30,000 was recovered from Parija’s possession and seized by the Vigilance officials.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches are being conducted at three locations linked to the accused to ascertain his assets and investigate the allegations of possession of disproportionate assets.

In connection with the case, Kataka Vigilance Police Station Case No. 39, dated October 7, 2026, has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

Further investigation into the case is underway.

Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda