Balangir: The Odisha Vigilance apprehended a Forest Guard while accepting a bribe of Rs 16,000 in Odisha’s Balangir district on Thursday.
Following a complaint by a labourer’s representative that Laxmi Narayan Swain, the forest guard of Patnagarh Forest Range in the district was demanding the bribe for preparing the muster roll the labourers to clear pending bills, the Vigilance set up a trap.
As per the plan, the complainant went to give the demanded bribe and the Vigilance sleuths nabbed Swain while accepting it. The Vigilance officials recovered the entire bribe amount of Rs 16,000 from the possession of Swain and seized it.
Following the trap, the Vigilance conducted simultaneous searches on the properties of the forest guard at three locations from DA angle.
Sambalpur Vigilance has filed a case under PC (Amendment) Act, 2018 in this connection and further investigation is on, according to a Vigilance press release.
