The accused, identified as Heblet Barla, is posted at Muribahal Tahasil of Balangir. He was caught while accepting bribe of Rs.10,000/- as first instalment of totall demand of Rs 20,000/- from a complainant for issuance of ROR (Land Patta) in his favour in a mutation case.

The complainant had been requesting accused Barla to process his mutation case for a long time, as the case had been registered in the year 2019. However, Barla was refusing to do the work and demanding bribe of Rs.20,000/- to do the same.

Finding no other way, the complainant informed the Vigilance and the anti-corruption agency made a plan and nabbed the accused while accepting Rs.10,000/- as 1st installment.

The entire tainted bribe money has been recovered from the exclusive possession of Barla and seized, official sources said.

Following the successful trap, simultaneous searches are going on at two locations of Barla from Disproportionate Assets angle.

In this connection, a case has been registered and investigation is in progress.

Participating in the Nua-O programme, organised at Gandhi Stadium in Balangir town, he interacted with students of colleges of the district. He said Nua-O offers a platform for youngsters to showcase their talent and help them achieve overall personality development in addition to their academic achievements. Citing examples of prominent persons from the district, he asked the students to work hard with self-confidence to achieve success in life.

Pandian reviewed the progress of 650-bed Teaching Hospital at Bhima Bhoi Medical College & Hospital, Balangir constructed with a cost of Rs 305 crore. While the work is in finishing stage, he instructed the officials to complete all remaining works at the earliest.

Later, he also reviewed other major projects in the district including ISS projects at Kukedmal, Patharla, Kursud, Silatkani, Kutasingha at a total cost of 1217 crore; Mega pipe drinking water supply projects in different blocks at a cost of Rs 1312 crore; bypass road at a cost of Rs 176 crore; Patnagarh bypass road at a cost of Rs 140 crore; development of Tusura airstrip at a cost of Rs 65 crore and development of Harishankar Temple at a cost of Rs 26 crore.

Some of the major projects have been taken up after the previous visit of Pandian to the District in August 2023 when he attended the grievance meetings and took feedback from the people.

During the day, he also interacted with the people at Kantabanji Vocational College Playground & RN Singhdeo stadium field, Saintala and received the grievances on various issues and assured early resolution.

The Chief Minister has also sanctioned Rs 65 crore for implementation of the project for the improvement of the airstrip, sources in the CMO said on Tuesday.

It may be mentioned here that 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman V K Pandian had visited Balangir on August 5 and 6 and had received many proposals from people of the area.

The proposals included one for the improvement of Tusura airstrip. He had reviewed the modernisation proposal and directed district Collector for preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) for the purpose.

Tusura airstrip happens to be a public airstrip located in Balangir district. Nearest airport to this airstrip is Utkela in Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district. There are plans to upgrade the facility and use it as a second base for flight school by GATI in the state, sources said.

According to sources, the accident took place when the van with around 20-25 persons on board was en route to Gurjimunda in Kalahandi district from Haladi village in Muribahal.

The injured, most of whom were children and women, were rescued by locals and admitted to a hospital at Titlagarh. Some of them were referred to Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital as their condition deteriorated.

As per preliminary information, the incident was reported from Bubel village under Puintala block in the district. The deceased farmer was identified as Ramesh Bhoi (50).

According to villagers, Ramesh was applying pesticide in the field on Tuesday when he consumed some of the poisonous chemicals. He was immediately rushed to hospital. However, he died while undergoing treatment at the Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital early on Wednesday, sources said.

Other farmers of the area said that Ramesh had raised crops over an area of ten acres, but huge loss took place due to pest attack. Crops on around five acres of land were damaged due to pest attack and the farmer had lost his mental balance following this, they said.

Claiming that the pesticide available in the local market had proved ineffective, locals accused district agriculture officials of not paying adequate attention to the pest problem.

While the family members of the deceased farmer visited Puintala police station to lodge a complaint, no government official was immediately available for comment.

As per information, the illegal activity was going on during night in the presence of the watchman, identified as Tikiram Majhi.

Acting on a tip-off regarding the racket, a team of police personnel carried out a raid at the place and apprehended the watchman red-handed. A woman engaged in the flesh trade was rescued by the police personnel from the spot.

Another accused managed to escape after noticing the arrival of the police team at the site and efforts are on to nab him. A case has been registered and further investigation is in progress to ascertain the possible involvement of others in the racket, police said.

The accountant has been identified as Ajaya Khuntia.

Acting on a tip-off, vigilance conducted raid and apprehended Khuntia while demanding and accepting bribe Rs.18,000 from a Complainant (an Assistant Teacher ) for processing file of NPS ( National Pension Scheme) work and release of pending arrear DA (Dearness Allowance, recently released by the Govt. ) in favour of him and other teachers.

The entire bribe money has been recovered from accused Sri Khuntia and seized.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches are going on at two locations of Khuntia from a DA angle.

In this connection, Sambalpur Vigilance P.S. Case No.22 dt.24.08.2023 U/s.7 P.C. (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered. Further investigation is in progress.

Adrija Manjari reached the Bolangir Town police station and sought security as she wanted to visit the palace for collecting some of her belongings. She has sought security from the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Balangir district.

According to reports, Adrija Manjari who now lives in Uttarakhand, had informed the police that she wants to visit Balangir Palace to take her belongings and she needs security during her visit.

It may be recalled that a domestic violence case has reportedly been filed against Arkesh, younger son of BJD leader Ananga Udaya Singh Deo, and four other members of the Balangir Royal family at Dehradun’s Rajpur police station.

The case has been filed against Arkesh, his father, mother Bijayalaxmi Devi, brother Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo and sister-in-law Meghna Rana on basis of a complaint by his wife Adrija Manjari, pertaining to allegations of domestic violence, dowry harassment and attempt to murder.

Adrija is the granddaughter of former Prime Minister VP Singh and the duo had got married on November 23, 2017

While alleging that they were trying to oust her from her marital house in Dehradun, she claimed that some women were sent by her husband to kill her on May 13. “After sending me divorce papers on September 8, 2022, Arkesh called my sister Richa on September 14 to ask us to vacate the house…In March this year, they installed CCTV cameras on the premises of the house to keep an eye on me and directed the domestic help as well as other staff to humiliate and abuse me,” her complaint read.

The couple started staying in Dehradun after Arkesh lost the Balangir assembly segment in 2019 polls.

Arkesh had, however, has refuted the allegations. “The allegations are false. The matter is currently sub-judice and I have complete faith on the judiciary,” he had said.

According to sources, the accused identified as Manmayee Panda, has been working as a Hindi teacher at a high school in Puintala block of the district for the last ten years.

However, during scrutiny of the BEd and other certificates submitted by her, it was reportedly found that she had furnished fake documents.

Thereafter, the District Education Officer (DEO) of Balangir lodged a complaint against the teacher with the police. It is not clear as to how and from where the teacher had got the fake certificate. The DEO has lodged complaint against four teachers for submission of fake certificates.

Based on the complaint, the police have detained Panda in Balangir for questioning to ascertain the facts. Other teachers against whom complaint was filed are likely to be taken into custody soon.

It may be noted that following the detection of an organised fake certificate racket in the district recently, the authorities are undertaking thorough scrutiny of the certificates submitted by teachers and others.

On the second day, he visited the Samalei Temple at Balangir, Jogeswar Temple at Loisingha and Ranipur Jharial group of temples at Bangomunda and interacted with Sebayats, Trustee members and the general public for the development of Temples along with better facilities for the devotees and took suggestion on various aspects of the transformation of the temple and related pilgrim/ tourist amenities. He directed the district administration to prepare a master plan for the development of these temples.

He visited Koshal Kala Mandal ground and instructed to make a DPR for the development of the ground and other facilities.

Pandian reviewed the Lower Suktel irrigation project including its spillway, and Scada controlled UGPL irrigation works which will irrigate around 1,00,000 acres of Balangir and Sonepur district besides providing drinking water. The Spillway is nearing completion and the impounding of water in the reservoir has started this season. The irrigation will be provided in phases starting from 2024.

He participated in the public grievances meetings at Loisingha and Gurunda playground in Muribahal. He conveyed that Chief Minister laid emphasis on grievance redressal as a priority task for the administration. He assured them of early grievance redressal.

Later, Pandian reviewed mega piped water supply projects at a cost of Rs 482 crores for Agalpur, Loisingha, Puintala, Turekela,  Bongamunda, and Muribahal Blocks. The projects will be operationalised in phases starting from year 2025.

He also visited Jogisarda high school which was transformed under the 5T HST program in the first phase. He interacted with teachers, students, and SMC members. He reviewed smart classrooms, e-library, and science laboratory facilities which were well maintained. He motivated the students to dream big and study hard to achieve it. He assured that the government is committed to provide quality education to the students.

He interacted with Mission Shakti groups and assured them of support from the government for their activities. He emphasised that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has a high priority for women’s empowerment. He directed the collector to ensure that loan melas are organised at the panchayat level.

Special Secretary to CM R Vineel Krishna, IG Deepak Kumar, Collector & DM, Balangir, Chanchal Rana, S P Balangir  Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo and other district-level officials accompanied him during the visit.