Bhubaneswar, May 21: Odisha Vigilance on Thursday apprehended two employees of the office of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (ARCS), Titilagarh Circle, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 70,000 from a retired employee to facilitate release of arrear salary dues under the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) scheme.

The accused were identified as Anil Kumar Panda, Senior Assistant, and Herekrushna Majhi, Peon, both attached to the ARCS office in Titilagarh.

According to Vigilance officials, the complainant had retired from service in January 2025 and had been repeatedly requesting release of his pending MACP arrears. However, Panda allegedly delayed processing the file and demanded Rs 1 lakh as a bribe for clearing the dues.

Officials said Panda instructed the retired employee to deposit Rs 70,000 as the first instalment into the bank account of peon Herekrushna Majhi.

Unable to tolerate the alleged harassment, the retired employee approached Odisha Vigilance and lodged a formal complaint.

Acting on the complaint, Vigilance officials laid a trap and apprehended both accused immediately after the bribe amount was deposited into the account. Simultaneous searches are also being conducted at properties linked to the accused over suspected disproportionate assets.

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