Bhubaneswar: Simadri Srikanta Rao, the Assistant Director (Technical) of Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) in Bhubaneswar, was apprehended by Odisha Vigilance while demanding and taking bribe today.
The Vigilance sleuths nabbed the OREDA Assistant Director while demanding and taking bribe Rs 10,000 from an agency for signing the Performance Certificate required for release of the balance amount towards installation of a 60 KW Solar Power Plant at WALMI (Water and Land Management Institute), Cuttack.
For the release of the pending bills towards the installation of the above said solar plant, the executant, on behalf of the agency, had been requesting Rao for some time past. But, he was demanding bribe of Rs 30,000 from the executant to sign performance certificate for release of the pending amount in favour of the agency even after completion of the work. Later, her reduced the bribe amount to Rs 10,000 on negotiation.
Being aggrieved by the demand of the bribe, the executant approached the vigilance authorities about the matter. Following this, today, a team of Odisha Vigilance nabbed the Assistant Director of OREDA while taking the amount from the executant.
The entire tainted bribe money of Rs 10,000 has been recovered from the exclusive possession of accused Rao and seized.
Following the successful trap, simultaneous searches are going on at three locations linked to Rao from Disproportionate Assets (DA) angle.
In this connection, Bhubaneswar Vigilance P.S. Case No. 03 dated 19.03.2026 U/s 7 P.C (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered against Rao.