Panchayat extension officer arrested for accepting bribe

Vigilance personnel have arrested a panchayat extension officer and her husband in Ganjam district for allegedly accepting bribe from two widows for sending their reports to the BDO, which would have enabled them to receive government support.
On the basis of a complaint, the vigilance personnel laid a trap yesterday and arrested Suchitra Kumari Patra, PEO of Gudipadar Gram Panchayat and her husband Birendra Patra while accepting the bribe of Rs 5000, vigilance sources said today.
The women, whose husbands had passed away a few years ago, were entitled to receive financial assistance from the government under Jatiya Pariwar Mangala Yojana. Both of them had submitted applications to the Block Development Officer (BDO), Patapur Block for the financial assistance.

When the two women repeatedly approached the PEO to send the inquiry reports to the BDO, Patapur, Patra demanded Rs 6,000 from them, the vigilance sources said.
Patra had finally agreed to send the reports after receiving Rs 5,000.