Bhubaneswar: CBI on Sunday registered a case against an employee of National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB) here for allegedly demanding a Rs 3,000 bribe from a contractor to issue him a favourable testing report for cement used for construction. The incident comes close on the heels of the arrest of a high-ranking officer of the Bridge and Roof Company, a central PSU, on bribery charges on Dec 7.
NCB, an apex research and development organisation under the ministry of commerce and industry, is dedicated to research, technology development, education and industrial services for cement, allied building materials and construction industries. Accused Brijesh Dash is posted in NCB’s branch in Mancheswar area here.
According to contractor Sujit Kumar Jena’s complaint, he recently completed work of laying cover slab in ward no. 19 in Choudwar municipality at a cost of Rs 4,45,443. Following standard protocol, the construction slab (testing cube) required NCB testing post-completion.
“After receipt of a positive testing report from NCB, the Choudwar municipality will clear my payment bill. After depositing a requisite amount for the testing, I deposited the cube in the NCB office on Dec 24. Dash received the cube,” Jena’s complaint stated.
Subsequently, Dash obtained contact details of Jena’s son, his work assistant. On Dec 26, Dash contacted Jena’s son and allegedly requested Rs 3,000 for issuing a favourable test report. “I contacted Brijesh Dash. He placed the same demand before me. I expressed my inability to pay the bribe. He kept on calling me for the bribe. Dash shared a UPI number to receive the bribe,” the complaint read.
“We have registered a case under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (amended in 2018) against the NCB employee for demanding the bribe. Investigation is in progress,” a CBI source stated. No arrests have been made yet.