OAS officer held while taking bribe

Bhubaneswar: The State Vigilance on Wednesday arrested an Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer after he was caught red-handed while receiving a bribe from a staffer in his office for relieving him on his transfer and for releasing his arrears salary and the Last Pay Certificate (LPC).

The accused OAS officer, identified as Banamali Satpathy, is currently posted as the Executive Officer, Belaguntha Notified Area Council (NAC) in Ganjam district. “Accused Satpathy was demanding a bribe of Rs 25,000 from the complainant to release his pending arrears salary and to send his LPC (Last Pay Certificate). As a result, he was unable to draw a salary at his new place of posting. Left with no other option, the complainant reported the matter to the Vigilance authorities,” said a senior official.

Based on the above complaint, the Vigilance laid a trap on Wednesday and caught Satpathy while he was taking the bribe amount from the complainant at Balipadar bus stop in Ganjam district. The entire bribe money was recovered and seized from the possession of Satpathy in the presence of witnesses.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches have been launched on Satpathy’s government quarters, office room at Belaguntha and a residential house located at Kabisurya Nagar in Ganjam district. The Vigilance sleuths have so far found five buildings at Kabisurya Nagar and seven valuable plots, including one in Puri town and six in Ganjam district, in possession of Satpathy and his family members. Also, Rs 1,60 lakh cash was recovered from his residence at Kabisurya Nagar.

A case has been registered against Satpathy under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Satpathy joined government service as a Junior Clerk under Koraput Collectorate in 1989. In 2022, he was promoted to the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) cadre. Since February this year, he has been serving as the Executive Officer of Belaguntha NAC.

The Vigilance department had arrested two OAS officers, including the topper of the 2019 batch, on corruption charges last month.