Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday apprehended a senior assistant of the Odisha Pharmacy Council and a private individual for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 9,000 from an applicant seeking a Pharmacy Registration Certificate.

The accused have been identified as Biswamohan Pattnaik alias Raja, Senior Assistant at the Odisha Pharmacy Council, Bhubaneswar, and his associate, Md. Izaz Khan alias Prusty, a private individual.

Rs 9,000 bribe allegedly sought for Pharmacy Registration Certificate

According to Vigilance, the complainant had been pursuing the issuance of his Pharmacy Registration Certificate for about a week and had repeatedly approached Pattnaik for verification of documents and processing of the application. However, the official allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 9,000 to facilitate the registration process.

On Tuesday, when the applicant met Pattnaik in front of the Odisha Pharmacy Council office in Bhubaneswar, the accused allegedly reiterated his demand and instructed him to hand over the bribe amount to his associate, Md. Izaz Khan.

The applicant subsequently reported the matter to Odisha Vigilance, following which a trap was laid.

Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team caught both Pattnaik and Khan red-handed while allegedly accepting the bribe amount from the applicant. The entire tainted cash of Rs 9,000 was recovered and seized from their possession.

Following the successful trap, Vigilance officials launched simultaneous searches at two locations linked to Pattnaik to probe possible disproportionate assets.

A case has been registered at Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway against both accused persons.

Officials said a detailed report on the case will be released after completion of preliminary inquiries.