The CBI on Tuesday raided the house of 1995 batch IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi in connection with a ₹10 lakh bribery case involving the Bridge and Roof Company (India) Ltd, a central public sector enterprise.

Sethi maintained he was being unnecessarily dragged into the case. “There has been no FIR against me. I have not received any favour from the company. They came to search my house without prior notice. They have harassed me and my family members. The male officials searched my house while my wife was the only woman in the house.”

Sethi, who is currently serving as officer on special duty in the general administration department, said: “I served the state for 30 years and worked in different districts. People know me and my work. The CBI, unnecessarily, is trying to tarnish my image.”

In December 2024, the CBI quizzed two of Sethi’s drivers in connection with this bribery case.

A handwritten letter addressed to the chief secretary is being circulated on social media in which Sethi said he had resigned from his job as he did not see any future in the government. He cited how the raid had tarnished the reputation he had built over the years. However, Sethi is yet to make his stance clear on this issue.

As per the case history, the Odisha government in ST&SC development, minorities and backward classes department had assigned projects for the upgradation of certain schools.

Sethi, in his capacity, had allegedly assigned the projects to Bridge and Roof Company (India) Ltd. It had been alleged that the group general manager of Bridge and Roof Company (India) Ltd. Chanchal Kumar Mukherjee had influenced Sethi to award the contract to his company.