Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday suspended Dharamgarh Sub-Collector Dhiman Chakma, a 2021-batch IAS officer, following his arrest on bribery charges.
“Governor of Odisha in exercise of powers conferred under sub-rule 3 of rule 3 of the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969 hereby places the said Shri Dhiman Chakma, IAS (RR-2021) under suspension with immediate effect,” the notification issued by the General Administration Department said.
It further stated that his headquarters has been fixed at the GA&PG Department during the suspension period. He is not allowed to leave the headquarters in Bhubaneswar without prior permission of the authority concerned.
The 36-year-old IAS officer was arrested by Odisha Vigilance on Monday, a day after being caught red-handed while allegedly accepting Rs 10 lakh from a local businessman, at his official residence at Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district. This was an installment of the total Rs 20,000 bribe demand. Another Rs 47 lakh in cash was recovered during subsequent searches at his residence.
The Special Judge Vigilance court in Bhawanipatna has remanded him to judicial custody till June 22.
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Chakma hails from Kanchanpur in Tripura. He graduated in computer science from NIT, Agartala. He secured 722nd rank in UPSC Civil Services Exam 2019 and 482nd rank the following year. He initially served as an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and worked as ACF, Baripada, Mayurbhanj from June 2021, before joining the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) later that year. He was assigned Odisha cadre and joined as Dharmagarh sub-collector in January 2024 after training.