Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Sunday apprehended a Revenue Inspector (RI) posted at Mangarajpur under Tangi-Choudwar Tehsil in Cuttack district while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000.
According to vigilance officials, the accused RI, Rajaram Bandra, had demanded the illegal gratification from a landowner for submitting a favourable report in a mutation case, involving the conversion of a ‘Patita’ (barren/fallow) land to ‘Homestead’ land.
The landowner had applied online for the land conversion on March 10, 2026, following guidelines issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management department. However, Bandra allegedly contacted the applicant and instructed him to visit the RI office on March 29 with Rs 30,000. The RI reportedly threatened that he would not submit a positive report in the mutation proceedings unless the bribe was paid.
Irked by the demand and threat, the landowner approached the Vigilance authorities for help.
Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap and nabbed Bandra red-handed while he was accepting the bribe money at his office. The entire amount of Rs 30,000 was recovered from his possession and seized as evidence.
Currently, simultaneous searches are underway at two locations linked to the accused from the disproportionate assets (DA) angle. A case has been registered against him at Cuttack Vigilance police station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and further investigation is underway.
