Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday apprehended forester Biswanath Soren of Dihadol Section in Dhenkanal and member of an elephant squad, Sudipta Kumar Sahoo, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000.
According to a Vigilance release, the forester had allegedly demanded Rs 25,000 from a farmer to allow him to till a patch of land located in his jurisdiction and threatened to register cases against him if the demand was not met. “A few days back, Soren had threatened to seize his tilling equipment and forced him to pay Rs 15,000. He also demanded additional Rs 10,000,” it said.
The farmer then reported the matter to Vigilance authorities, who then led a trap and nabbed the duo. The entire bribe money was recovered from them and seized.
Simultaneous searches are on at four locations linked to the forester, and one of Sahoo to ascertain whether they have accumulated assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
A case has been registered against them under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and further investigation is underway, it added.
