Bhubaneswar: An IAS officer, Dhiman Chakma, is under Odisha vigilance scanner on bribery charges.
The 2021-batch officer, currently posted as a sub-collector at Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district, was caught red-handed while allegedly accepting Rs 10 lakh from a local businessman, at his official residence on Sunday.
Another Rs 47 lakh in cash was recovered during subsequent searches at his residence. “As he could not give any satisfactory explanation regarding such huge cash, the same was seized,” a Vigilance release said on Monday.
He was later arrested and forwarded to court, it added.
Sources indicated that the businessman, who operates stone crusher units in areas under Chakma’s jurisdiction, filed a complaint with Vigilance authorities on Saturday after the 36-year-old officer allegedly sought Rs 20 lakh as bribe.
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.