Ex-Cooperative Secretary Convicted, ARI Held for Bribery

Bhubaneswar: Manohar Behera, the retired Secretary of Haripur Service Co-operative Society (SCS) under the Balasore-Bhadrak Central Co-operative (BBCC) Bank’s Khaira Branch, has been convicted in a corruption case by the Special Judge, Vigilance, Balasore.

The court sentenced Behera to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000. He was found guilty of misappropriating government funds amounting to Rs 5,50,142. Behera manipulated records to falsely show the purchase of 69 metric tonnes of fertilizer as genuine transactions. He was charged under Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(c)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with Sections 409, 465, and 477-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Following the conviction, Odisha Vigilance has stated that it will approach the competent authority to initiate proceedings for the stoppage of Behera’s pension.

Assistant Revenue Inspector Arrested for Taking Bribe

In a separate incident, Odisha Vigilance officials apprehended Kalilash Chandra Behera, the Assistant Revenue Inspector (ARI) of Sorana RI Circle under Chilika Tahasil in Khurda district. He was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a complainant associated with the Chilika Adrabhumi Sangrakshyana organization.

The bribe was reportedly demanded to furnish a favorable report for the allotment of land under the Vasundhara Yojana, a government initiative of the Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) Department, to landless villagers, including the complainant’s sons.

Further investigations are underway in both cases.