The Odisha Vigilance on Thursday caught a Revenue Inspector red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 6,000 for demarcation of land plots under Athamallik Tahasil in Angul district.
The accused has been identified as Surendra Kumar Dash, Revenue Inspector of Tusar RI Circle under Athamallik Tahasil. He was apprehended inside the campus of the RI Office at Kiakata while taking the second and final instalment of the bribe from a land owner.
According to Vigilance sources, the complainant had applied for the demarcation of his land plots on November 24, 2025. When he approached the Revenue Inspector on January 5 to enquire about the status of his application, Dash allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 to initiate the process and pass orders for demarcation. On the same day, he reportedly accepted Rs 2,000 as the firstinstalment and asked the complainant to pay the remaining amount later.
The complainant was directed to pay the balance amount on January 8. However, when he expressed his inability to pay the remaining Rs 8,000, the accused allegedly agreed to reduce the amount to Rs 6,000 following negotiations.
Aggrieved by the demand, the landowner lodged a complaint with the Odisha Vigilance. Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap and apprehended Dash while he was allegedly receiving the remaining bribe amount of Rs 6,000. On noticing the Vigilance officials, the accused reportedly threw the bribe money through a window of a restroom inside the office campus. The entire tainted amount was later recovered and seized.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches are being conducted at three locations linked to the accused from a disproportionate assets angle.
In this connection, Cuttack Vigilance Police Station has registered Case No. 01 dated January 8, 2026, under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway.
