GP technical assistant arrested for demanding bribe

A gram panchayat technical assistant (GPTA) and her husband were arrested and produced in Jeypore special vigilance court for allegedly demanding Rs 34,000 as bribe.
The GTPA Rashmita Sahu, posted at Khariar block development office in Nuapada district, had allegedly demanded Rs 34,000 from a clerk of a College of Advanced Technology at Khariar to pass a bill of Rs 2.74 lakh for construction of a building in the college, vigilance officials said.
"A total of Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned for the building and Rs 2.74 lakh spent in the first phase. The work order was passed against the name of Rajendra Hans, a clerk. The GPTA demanded Rs 34,000 from him to pass the bill. The deal was finally settled at Rs 25,000," said SP (Jeypore vigilance division) Ashok Kumar Nayak.

The couple was arrested based on the complaint of Hans and the bribe money recovered from their car and both were produced before the court yesterday, he said.
Rashmita's husband Siba Shankar Mohapatra, a lecturer in a private engineering college in Bhubaneswar, was helping her strike the deal, the SP added.