Bhubaneswar, 24 June (H.S.): The Odisha Vigilance Department has arrested Prasanna Kumar Pattnaik, Executive Engineer of Rural Works Division (RWD)-I, Rayagada, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a contractor. The officer is accused of demanding the bribe in exchange for clearing pending bills and issuing a work experience certificate required for the contractor's participation in a tender process.

The Vigilance Department disclosed the development in a press release issued on Wednesday.

According to Vigilance officials, Pattnaik had initially demanded Rs 2.5 lakh from the contractor for clearing bills worth approximately Rs 50 lakh and for issuing the work experience certificate. However, after the contractor expressed his inability to pay the amount, the bribe demand was reportedly reduced to Rs 2 lakh following negotiations.

Aggrieved by the demand, the contractor approached Odisha Vigilance and lodged a complaint. Acting on the complaint, Vigilance officials laid a trap and apprehended Pattnaik late on June 23 while he was allegedly accepting the bribe amount of Rs 2 lakh from the complainant. The entire tainted money was recovered from his possession and seized.

Following the arrest, Vigilance teams conducted simultaneous searches at Pattnaik's residence in Basundhara Colony, Nandan Vihar, Bhubaneswar, his ancestral house in Nayagarh district, his office chamber in Rayagada, and his official government quarters.

During the searches, officials recovered Rs 3.39 lakh in cash from his government quarters in Rayagada. With this, the total cash seized in connection with the case has risen to Rs 5.39 lakh.

Officials said Pattnaik was scheduled to retire from service on June 30, 2026.

A case has been registered against the accused at Koraput Vigilance Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway.

The Vigilance Department stated that a detailed probe is being carried out, including scrutiny of the accused officer's income, assets, and financial transactions.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda