Vig sleuths arrest mining official taking Rs 2L bribe

Koraput: Vigilance sleuths arrested a senior mining official on Wednesday, a day after he was caught accepting Rs 2 lakh bribe from a sand quarry leaseholder for extending the lease and facilitating future benefits in sand spot auctions at Jeypore.The accused, Satyajit Rout, deputy director (geology)-cum-deputy director of mines, Jeypore, was produced before the special judge, vigilance, Jeypore, after his arrest on Wednesday.“The accused officer was trapped on Tuesday night while accepting Rs 2 lakh as bribe from a leaseholder. The entire tainted money was recovered from his possession and seized in the presence of witnesses. He was arrested on Wednesday and forwarded to court,” SP (vigilance) S Sushree said. According to officials, the complainant already deposited the requisite amount for the sand spot auction. However, Rout allegedly delayed processing the lease extension without any valid reason and demanded Rs 2 lakh to clear the proposal and extend official favours in future auctions.Unable to meet the illegal demand, the leaseholder approached vigilance, which laid a trap on Tuesday night. Rout was allegedly caught while receiving the bribe.

Chemical tests conducted on the hand wash of the accused yielded positive results, confirming that he handled the tainted currency, officials said.Following the trap, vigilance teams carried out simultaneous searches at Rout’s office chamber and his residences at Lingaraj Nagar in Jeypore, Bidyadharpur in Cuttack and Olakana under Mahanga in Cuttack district. During the searches, officials recovered Rs 2.9 lakh in cash from his Jeypore residence and another Rs 2 lakh from his house at Bidyadharpur. Including the Rs 2 lakh bribe amount seized during the trap, the total cash recovered in the case stood at Rs 6.9 lakh.“Searches were conducted at multiple locations linked to the accused, leading to seizure of an additional Rs 4.9 lakh in cash. Investigation is underway,” the SP said.