Cuttack, July 31: The Odisha Vigilance on Friday apprehended a Revenue Inspector and his associate for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹30,000 to facilitate the issuance of a corrected Record of Rights (ROR) and submit a favourable report in a land mutation case.

The accused have been identified as Kishor Kumar Swain, Revenue Inspector of Madhaba Circle under Niali Tahasil in Cuttack district, and Sukanta Pradhan, a private individual.

According to the Vigilance department, the complainant had applied online for the correction of the Record of Rights (land patta) and mutation of land in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Odisha Government's Revenue and Disaster Management Department. Despite repeated requests, the Revenue Inspector allegedly delayed the disposal of the mutation case without any valid reason.

Investigators said Swain allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹30,000 in exchange for submitting a favourable report in the mutation case and facilitating the issuance of the corrected ROR. When the applicant expressed his inability to pay, the accused allegedly continued to insist on the payment.

Unable to secure the service through official channels, the applicant approached the Odisha Vigilance and lodged a complaint, alleging harassment by the Revenue Inspector.

Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap on Friday and caught Swain and his associate Sukanta Pradhan while allegedly accepting the bribe amount of ₹30,000 from the complainant inside the Revenue Inspector's office. The entire tainted cash was recovered from their possession and seized as evidence.

Following the successful trap operation, Odisha Vigilance launched simultaneous searches at two locations linked to Swain to investigate possible assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.