Ex-Odisha vigilance officer asked to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation in fake bribery case
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BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has asked a former deputy superintendent of police (DSP) of Odisha vigilance to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation to a government engineer for allegedly arresting him in a fake bribery case in Dhenkanal district in 2017.
Himanshu Sekhar Mishra, who was then serving as vigilance DSP in Dhenkanal, had arrested Rajendra Prasad Mishra, a government junior engineer, on March 24, 2017 on charges of accepting Rs 25,000 bribe from a contractor, identified as Suresh Nayak.
Rajendra had moved the OHRC in 2017 alleging that the vigilance levelled false charges against him and defamed him in public life after arresting him in a fake trap case. Rajendra, who was the junior engineer in Kamakhyanagar notified area council (NAC), produced a CCTV footage of his chamber before the OHRC for investigation.
“Upon examination of the CCTV footage, it was found that the DSP Mishra and his team could not retrieve any bribe money from the engineer’s chamber. The contractor Suresh Nayak, who conspired against Rajendra, was also present in the chamber. The vigilance officials abused Rajendra whereas the contractor assaulted the engineer in the presence of the DSP,” said the order, issued on July 17.
The order further said that the vigilance team left Rajendra’s chamber by leaving the contractor alone inside. “After sometime, a vigilance constable again entered the engineer’s chamber and put a packet inside the drawer. Vigilance claimed they recovered Rs 25,000 bribe from the drawer. The video indicated that the trap was concocted and fake,” the order said.
The OHRC said DSP Mishra, who retired in May 2018, would pay the Rs 5 lakh compensation to Rajendra for faking the trap case and damaging the latter’s reputation. The rights panel asked the government to immediately blacklist the contractor and ensure that he never bags any government work.
OHRC said the DSP Mishra’s team members Udhab Charan Lenka (constable), Srinibas Biswal (constable) and Surendra Dhal, a home guard driver, who were part of the raid on that day have been asked not to be given important assignments.
Rajendra, who had spent 14 days in judicial custody and was suspended for nearly five months after being arrested in the alleged fake case, heaved a sigh of relief. “Now, I urge the government to give me a clean chit. Contractor Nayak conspired with the vigilance against me as I had raised objection against his substandard road work,” said Rajendra, who is currently posted as a junior engineer at Balugaon in Khurda district.