Bhubaneswar: On Tuesday, the Odisha Vigilance apprehended an employee of the Odisha Pharmacy Council (OPC) in Bhubaneswar, along with his associate, for allegedly accepting a bribe to verify documents necessary for issuing a Pharmacy Registration Certificate. The individuals arrested were identified as Biswamohan Pattnaik, also known as Raja, who serves as a Senior Assistant at the OPC, and Md. Izaz Khan, alias Prusty, a private individual and Pattnaik’s associate.

The arrests occurred after Pattnaik and Khan were found to have taken a bribe of Rs 9,000 from an applicant through Khan to facilitate the verification of documents for the Pharmacy Registration Certificate, according to a senior official from the Vigilance department. “For about a week, the applicant had been urging Pattnaik to expedite the issuance of the Pharmacy Registration Certificate. However, Pattnaik insisted on receiving a bribe of Rs 9,000 for his assistance. On the day of the arrest, when the applicant approached Pattnaik outside the Odisha Pharmacy Council Office in Bhubaneswar, he reiterated his demand for the bribe and instructed the applicant to hand over the money to his associate Khan,” the Vigilance official stated.

With no other recourse, the complainant reported the situation to the Vigilance authorities, seeking action against the accused. In response to the complaint, anti-corruption agents set up a trap on Tuesday and caught Pattnaik and Khan while they were accepting the bribe of Rs 9,000 from the applicant. The entire amount was recovered and seized from both suspects in the presence of witnesses. Following the operation, simultaneous searches were conducted at Pattnaik’s residence in Adimata Colony, Bhubaneswar, as well as at his workplace. Both individuals were subsequently arrested and presented to the court.