ICDS supervisor, JRA in Vigilance net for taking bribe

Brahmapur: Odisha Vigilance on Saturday arrested an ICDS supervisor and a Junior Revenue Assistant (JRA) for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from an Anganwadi worker in Ganjam district.

The accused have been identified as B. Uma Patro, ICDS Supervisor, and Narasingha Behera, JRA, both posted at the office of the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) in Hinjilicut.

According to the Vigilance department, the two officials demanded Rs 30,000 from an Anganwadi worker for releasing the pending house rent of an Anganwadi Centre for the last 11 months.

The officials told the worker that the house rent would not be released and payments for the coming months would also be withheld if the bribe was not paid. The Anganwadi worker then approached the Odisha Vigilance authorities and lodged a complaint.

Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap on Saturday. The officials were caught while accepting the Rs 30,000 bribe inside the CDPO office premises. The entire tainted money was recovered from them and seized.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches were conducted at the residential premises of both accused officials as part of a disproportionate assets inquiry.

A case has been registered at the Berhampur Vigilance police station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.