Bhubaneswar, 22 April (H.S.): In a crackdown on corruption, officials of Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday apprehended a staff member of the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) in Jharsuguda while allegedly accepting a bribe for processing an official application.

The accused , Anit Kumar Guru, Section Officer in the office of the CDM & PHO, Jharsuguda, was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting ₹2,500 from a teacher of a GNM (General Nursing and Midwifery) training school. The bribe was allegedly sought to facilitate the attachment of GNM students to PHC/CHC facilities for practical training for the 2026–27 academic session.

According to vigilance sources, there had been prior allegations against the official for repeatedly harassing nursing institutions in the district and demanding bribes to process similar applications. When the concerned teacher approached Guru for approval, he allegedly demanded ₹2,500, prompting the complainant to alert vigilance authorities.

Acting on the complaint, a vigilance team laid a trap and successfully apprehended the accused while he was accepting the bribe. The entire tainted amount of ₹2,500 was recovered from his possession and subsequently seized.

Following the arrest , simultaneous searches are being conducted at two locations linked to the accused to probe possible disproportionate assets.

In this connection, a case has been registered at Rourkela Vigilance Police Station under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation into the matter is currently underway.

Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda