Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Tuesday apprehended a forester in Balangir district while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a local farmer.
The accused, Ashok Kumar Nayak, posted as Forester in Gulumi Section under Muribahal Range, was caught red-handed demanding and accepting the illegal gratification to grant permission for transporting wooden logs.
According to the Vigilance department, the farmer had recently felled one teak and one sal tree on his private land. When he approached Nayak for transportation permission, the forester imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 for cutting the trees without prior approval, as required under government rules. The farmer, unaware of the mandatory permission requirement, agreed to pay the fine. However, Nayak allegedly demanded an additional Rs 10,000 as bribe to process the transportation permit. He also threatened the farmer with legal action if the bribe was not paid.
Harassed by the demands, the farmer lodged a complaint with the Odisha Vigilance.
Following which, a vigilance team laid a trap and nabbed Nayak while he was accepting the bribe along with the Rs 2,000 fine from the complainant. The entire amount has been recovered and seized.
Simultaneous searches are currently being conducted at two locations linked to Nayak to ascertain whether he has accumulated assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. A case has been registered against the accused forester at Sambalpur Vigilance police station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and further investigation is underway, it added.
