Revenue Inspector, aide held for taking Rs 30,000 bribe in Odisha’s Kataka

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance today arrested a Revenue Inspector (RI) and his aide on charges of taking Rs 30,000 as bribe from a person in Kataka district.Kishor Kumar Swain, the RI of Madhaba circle under Niali Tahasil in Kataka district, had allegedly sought Rs 30,000 as bribe from the person for submitting favourable report in a mutation case.Swain had refused to issue the corrected land patta (RoR) when the person expressed his inability to pay the bribe.The victim lodged a complaint in this regard with the Odisha Vigilance. Subsequently, a trap was laid and the RI and his aide, identified as Sukanta Pradhan, was caught taking the bribe from the complainant in the former’s office.The accused RI and his aide were arrested and the entire bribe money was seized from them, said the Odisha Vigilance.Following the trap, the Vigilance Department launched simultaneous searches as two locations linked to the accused RI to trace any disproportionate assets (DA).The Cuttack Vigilance police registered a case in this regard under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act-2018. Further investigation on this matter is underway, said the Vigilance Department.In another incident, the Vigilance sleuths have arrested a junior clerk and a driver of Brahmagiri Tahasil in Puri district on charges of taking Rs 20,000 as bribe from an individual.The Junior Clerk, identified as Narendra Kumar Sahoo, had allegedly sought Rs 20,000 as bribe from the individual for serving notice in connection with the demarcation of his plot.Despite getting Rs 8,000 as bribe from the applicant, the accused Junior Clerk sought Rs 20,000 more from him to do the work.After receiving a complaint in this regard, the Odisha Vigilance laid a trap and arrested the Junior Clerk and the driver, identified as Jitendra Kumar Sahoo, for accepting the bribe from the complainant on Thursday.The entire bribe money was seized from the accused duo and a case in this regard was registered at Vigilance police station in the capital city here.