Kendrapada: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Friday apprehended a Revenue Inspector (RI) red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 in connection with a land mutation case.
The accused, RI of Kedargarh circle under Rajnagar Tehsil in Kendrapada district, Pradyumna Keshari Behura, had demanded the illegal gratification from a landowner to submit a favourable report to facilitate the mutation process, which involves updating land records for inheritance purposes following an online application.
According to a Vigilance release, the landowner, frustrated by the demand, approached the anti-corruption agency and reported the matter. Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap and nabbed Behura while he was accepting the bribe in front of the Tehsil office at Rajnagar. The entire bribe money was recovered and seized from him.
Simultaneous searches are currently underway at two locations linked to the accused RI to ascertain whether he has accumulated assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
A case has been registered against Behura at Cuttack Vigilance police station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 and further investigation is underway, it added.
