Jajpur: The Odisha Vigilance today apprehended a woman Assistant engineer and her associate on charges of demanding and accepting bribe of ₹35,000 to clear pending bills and release a security deposit.

Vigilance official sources said a contractor engaged with the job of completion of construction works of a school in Badachana block had submitted the bills for payment. When he sought clearance of the pending bills and release of his security deposit, Bandita Dash, Assistant Engineer (AE) of Badachana block, allegedly demanded ₹35,000 as a bribe.

Fed up with the demand, the contractor approached the Vigilance authorities and lodged a complaint alleging harassment by Dash. 

Odisha Vigilance laid a trap and apprehended Dash and her associate Somonath Sethy while accepting bribe ₹35,000 from the complainant. 

The entire tainted bribe money was recovered from the accused and seized, said Vigilance officials.

Following the seizure, simultaneous searches are going on at three locations linked to Dash to ascertain whether she possessed assets disproportionate to her known sources of income. 

In this connection, Kataka Vigilance PS Case No.38 dt. dtd.27.09.2026 U/s-7 PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered. Further investigation into the case is underway.