The Vigilance had received a complaint that the complainant along with another person had gone for hydrocele operation in the district headquarters hospital (DHH) at Jharsuguda. This operation is conducted free of cost in government hospitals across the state.

But Dr Supreet Sourav, surgery specialist in the DHH, demanded Rs 6,000 to perform the surgery. Though the complainant expressed his inability to pay the amount, Dr Sourav refused to carry out the operation without the money.

Finding no other way, the complainant approached the Vigilance. A Vigilance team chalked out a plan and nabbed Dr Sourav while accepting the bribe from the complainant. The entire tainted bribe money was recovered and seized from the possession of Dr Sourav.

Following the trap, the Vigilance conducted simultaneous searches on at three locations of the doctor from DA angle.

According to sources, the woman cop had reportedly shifted bodies of three persons, who had died after a truck hit their motorcycle under Lakhanpur police limits, to a nearby area near Goudapada Chhak, which comes under the jurisdiction of Belpahar police station, in a PCR van. While the truck was seized from the spot, the driver had managed to flee.

Amid media reports on the incident, Jena was transferred to the District Police Headquarters on January 18 and suspended, four days later.

During the suspension period, Jena will remain under disciplinary control of Jharsuguda SP.

However, this is not the first time that Jena has been suspended for misconduct. She was earlier suspended after a video of her ‘kicking and thrashing’ a youth inside Patna police station in Keonjhar district went viral in 2020

Taking a strong exception to physical torture, the Odisha Human Rights Commission had then directed the district SP and the officer concerned to submit a detailed report within four weeks. The Commission had also directed the Home Secretary and the Director-General of Police to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to the youth by deducting the amount from the salary of the IIC.

Odisha Police, however, had later given Jena a clean chit in the matter.

According to sources, the accident took place when the three youths of Sahajbahal village were heading towards Lakhanpur on the two-wheeler. They sustained critical injuries and died on the spot. The driver of the vehicle fled the spot after crashing into the bikers.

On being informed, police reached the place and started investigation by examining footage of nearby CCTV cameras to identify the killer vehicle.

Similarly, Rs 39 crore has been sanctioned for Jharsuguda and Brajrajnagar constituencies of Jharsuguda district. Total 957 projects will be implemented in 78 panchayats under 5 blocks of the district. As per the provision, each panchayat will get Rs 50 lakh.

Launching the scheme through video-conference from Bhubaneswar on Monday, the chief minister said besides development of villages and panchayats, the scheme aims at promotion, preservation and protection of the Jagannath culture and tradition of the state.

Noting that Odisha has always been rooted in its tradition, culture and history, he said Odisha is the land that gave Jagannath culture to the world. It propagates universal love, service and equality. It is based on inclusiveness and embraces everyone irrespective of caste and community.

“Development of digital infrastructure is one of the objectives of the scheme. Internet connectivity, skill development centre, works hub and banking facilities are its other features. It will also open up vast opportunities for youths, women and farmers in rural areas,” Naveen said.

The scheme was launched on October 10 with a budget provision of Rs 3397 crore. Total 90,723 projects will be implemented in 6794 panchayats across the state and an amount of Rs 10 lakh will be allocated for every village as part of the scheme.

According to sources, the airline will modify the flight schedule of its ATR-72 aircraft, currently operating on Rourkela-Bhubaneswar route, to cater to Rourkela-Kolkata route. While the normal operation of the ATR-72 of AA on Rourkela-Bhubaneswar route would continue for seven days in a week, the ATR-72 is likely to operate between Rourkela and Kolkata via Bhubaneswar on three days in a week. The flight duration between Rourkela and Kolkata will be of around 1 hour 30 minutes.

The flight will depart from Kolkata at 11.40 am and land at Rourkela at 1.10 pm. It will take off from Bhubaneswar at 1.35 pm and arrive at 2.30 pm. After a 25 minutes halt, the aircraft will depart from Bhubaneswar at 2.55 pm, reach Rourkela at 3.50 pm. It will then leave Rourkela at 4.15 pm and reach Kolkata at 5.45pm where it will halt for the night.

In the opposite direction, the aircraft will depart from Kolkata at 1.10 pm and reach Bhubaneswar at 2.40 pm. It will then fly from Bhubaneswar at 3.05 pm and arrive in Rourkela at 4 pm. It will then depart from Rourkela at 4.25 pm and reach Bhubaneswar at 5.20 pm and fly back to Kolkata at 5.45 pm and reach there at 7.15 pm for night halt.

The only ATR-72 of the AA, which operates daily now, has a hectic schedule of at least eight long journeys originating from Kolkata to Aizawl, return to Kolkata and then flies to Jharsuguda. From Jharsuguda it goes to Bhubaneswar and then to Rourkela. From Rourkela it reaches Bhubaneswar and returns to Jharsuguda for taking the last flight of the day to Kolkata.

In January, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had flagged off the Bhubaneswar-Rourkela flight from the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) while Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated the event over the virtual mode. Alliance Air’s 72-seater aircraft then operated daily between Bhubaneswar and the Steel City from January 12 ahead of the Men’s Hockey World Cup, making it the fourth place in the state with air connectivity with Bhubaneswar.

Earlier in December 2022, Scindiahad announced in Parliament that in the fourth round of special bidding under RCS-UDAN the Big Charters was appointed as the Selected Airline Operation (SAO) for the Rourkela-Kolkata route and it would fly a 19-seater aircraft from February.

He reviewed the progress of ongoing mega piped water supply project at a cost of Rs.600 cr in Jharsuguda, Kirmira, Kolabira, Laikera and Lakhanpur blocks. He also reviewed the progress of water supply projects at a cost of Rs.295 cr for Brajrajnagar and Belpahar municipalities. The projects will be operationalized in phases from January 2024.

Pandian monitored the progress of Survey and Settlement Operation of 19 unsurveyed villages located in the periphery of Hirakud dam reservoir. He directed the officials concerned to prioritise and expedite the process.

He also reviewed some important projects – the progress of Construction of 04 Lane Carriageway Road Corridor Project at a cost of Rs.82 cr in Belpahar and Brajrajnagar for transportation of coal from Brajrajnagar coal fields, the progress of construction of RoB at a cost of Rs.41 cr in Sarbahal for Jharsuguda town.

He visited Ramachandi Temple in Brajrajnagar and Jangha Linga Temple in Laikera where he interacted with Sebayats, Trustee Members and general public for development of Temples along with better facilities for the devotees and took suggestions on various aspects of transformation of the temple and related pilgrim/ tourist amenities. He directed the district administration to prepare a master plan for development.

He interacted with Mission Shakti Groups at Jharsuguda and assured them all support from the government for their activities. He emphasized that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has high priority for women empowerment. He directed the Collector to facilitate the awareness about the interest free loans and also to organise loan melas at Panchayat level.

During the day, he participated in the Public Grievance Meetings at Lakhanpur and Laikera. He interacted with the public regarding their grievances. He emphasised that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gives top priority towards citizen grievances and assured early resolution of the petitions submitted.

Special Secretary to CM R. Vineel Krishna, Suresh Ch Dalai, RDC (ND), Sambalpur, Deepak Kumar, IGP, Sambalpur, Mrs. Aboli Sunil Naravane, Collector & DM, Jharsuguda, Parmar Smit Parshottamdas, S.P., Jharsuguda and other district level officials accompanied him during the visit.