Bhubaneswar, Feb 24 : The Odisha Vigilance, on Tuesday, arrested a senior government official for allegedly accepting a bribe from a licensed coal vendor in exchange for facilitating the complainant to run his business smoothly.

According to the Vigilance sources, the accused officer Debabrata Mohanty, Cuttack Deputy Director of Mines, was apprehended by the Vigilance sleuths while he was taking a bribe of Rs 30,000 from the licenced coal vendor in exchange for allowing smooth running of his coal depot and to grant permission to transport coal.

The police also seized the entire tainted bribe money from the possession of the accused Deputy Director of Mines.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches are underway at three locations associated with Mohanty to ascertain whether the accused Deputy Director has possessed any disproportionate assets (DA).

A case has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, against Mohanty at the Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station in this regard on Monday.

Notably, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on Monday, told the State Assembly that the Vigilance Department has registered a total 416 cases against government officers and employees in the state for taking bribes, committing financial irregularities in government fund and possession of disproportionate assets between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025.

He also added that of this, 244 cases are pending investigation and in 172 cases, after completion of investigation, final forms have been submitted and the cases are sub-judice.

The state government has established 22 Vigilance Courts in the state, including two Special courts and two courts of authorised officers for prompt trial of various Vigilance cases and confiscation proceedings.

As per reports, a new Vigilance Court has also been established in Bargarh district recently.

This apart, the Odisha government has recently taken several other initiatives to strengthen the Vigilance department.

/IANS