Bhubaneswar: An officer of the Odisha Revenue Service (ORS) was apprehended by Vigilance sleuths while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 7,000 from a vendee to allow registration of a sale deed.
The accused, identified as Manisha Mishra, is posted as Sub-Registrar, Baliapal, in Baleshwar district.
She was caught while demanding and taking Rs 7,000 from a vendee to allow registration of sale deed of land measuring area Ac.0.14 decimal recorded as Bajyapti Stithiban. As per the provisions of the R&DM department, this category of (kisam) land is to be treated as Stithiban and could be registered.
However, despite repeated requests by the vendee based on the guidelines issued by the R& DM department, accused Sub-Registrar paid no attention to it. Instead, she demanded a bribe Rs 10,000 from the vendee (complainant). When the complainant expressed his inability to pay the demanded bribe, Mishra reduced the bribe amount to Rs 7,000. Being aggrieved by the demanded bribe and unable to meet the demand, the complainant approached the vigilance authorities narrating his harassment.
Based on the complaint, a team of Vigilance nabbed Mishra while taking Rs 7,000 from the complainant. The entire tainted bribe money has been recovered from the possession of accused Sub-Registrar and seized.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches are going on at two locations linked to her from Disproportionate Assets (DA) angle. A case has been registered under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 and investigation is in progress.
Vigilance said Mishra joined service in 2024 and was under probation period appointed at Baliapal as Sub-Registrar.
