Bhubaneswar, June 24: In a major anti-corruption operation, Odisha Vigilance officials arrested Prasanna Kumar Pattnaik, Executive Engineer of Rural Works Division-I (RWD-I), Rayagada, while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹2 lakh from a contractor.
According to Vigilance sources, Pattnaik had allegedly demanded the bribe in exchange for clearing pending bills related to completed government works and issuing a work experience certificate required by the contractor to participate in future tenders and secure fresh contracts.
The contractor had reportedly been requesting the certificate for some time. Vigilance officials said the Executive Engineer initially demanded ₹2.5 lakh, allegedly equivalent to five per cent of bills worth around ₹50 lakh that had already been cleared. After the contractor expressed his inability to pay the amount, the demand was reportedly reduced to ₹2 lakh following negotiations.
Unable to bear the pressure, the contractor approached Odisha Vigilance and lodged a complaint. Acting on the information, Vigilance officials laid a trap and caught Pattnaik red-handed while allegedly accepting the bribe. The entire tainted amount of ₹2 lakh was recovered from his possession and seized.
Following the arrest, simultaneous searches were conducted at his residence in Bhubaneswar’s Nandan Vihar area, his ancestral house in Nayagarh, his office chamber and his government quarters in Rayagada. During the searches, officials recovered an additional ₹3.39 lakh in cash from his Rayagada residence, taking the total cash seizure to ₹5.39 lakh.
The Vigilance Department has launched a detailed investigation into his assets and financial transactions. Notably, Pattnaik was scheduled to retire from government service on June 30, 2026, just days after his arrest. Further inquiries are underway to ascertain whether he possesses assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
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