A government doctor was taken into custody in Bhubaneswar after allegedly demanding and accepting a Rs 30,000 bribe from a non-governmental organisation, said officials on Monday.
Acting on a formal complaint, Odisha Vigilance officers caught Dr Satyajit Behera, assistant surgeon at Capital Hospital, red-handed as he allegedly accepted the money to sign duty completion certificates for NGO staff, a prerequisite for disbursing their June and July salaries, according to officials.
The NGO had been engaged by the hospital to assist unsupported and destitute patients coming to casualty for treatment. The destitute and unsupported patients are provided support of attendant, food, clothing etc. from the employees engaged by the NGO.
In addition, the employees also help the poor patients get medicine and arrange blood for their patients.
Although the functionary of the NGO had been requesting Behera since June 2026 for signing the work records. But, the doctor demanded Rs 30,000 from the functionary (complainant) of the NGO for the purpose.
Facing such bribe demand and harassment, the NGO reported the matter to Vigilance authorities. Based on the complaint, a trap was laid today, wherein accused Dr Behera was nabbed by the team of Odisha Vigilance in his chamber for demanding and taking undue advantage (bribe) of Rs 30,000 from the functionary of the NGO.
The entire bribe money was recovered and seized from the possession of Dr. Behera in presence of witnesses. “Right hand wash of Dr. Behera gave positive chemical reaction, confirming taking and handling of bribe money by him,” the Vigilance said in a statement.
The anti-corruption unit subsequently carried out simultaneous raids at three properties associated with the accused doctor, officials added.
In a separate enforcement action, the Vigilance Department arrested a former secretary of the Tusura Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) in Bolangir district over alleged monetary misappropriations dating back to the 2014-15 Kharif Marketing Season, officials reported.
Sanoj Kumar Mishra, then Secretary of Tusura PACS, was responsible for managing the procurement of paddy from local farmers and ensuring its timely dispatch to designated (tagged) rice millers for custom milling.
Investigations revealed that a substantial quantity of paddy procured using government funds was neither delivered to the millers nor accounted for in the society’s stock records.
The failure to deliver the paddy and fraudulent accounting resulted in an illegal diversion of funds and direct financial loss to the society totaling Rs 42,31,608 by Mishra, officials added.
In this connection, Sambalpur Vigilance has registered case with appropriate sections and further investigation into the matter is underway.
