Kendrapara, May 18: Vigilance officials arrested a High School Headmaster while taking bribe of Rs 5,000 from a new staff of his school to facilitate for drawl of his arrear salary.

The accused has been identified as Raghunath Das, Headmaster of Chadeiguan High School in Mahakalpada of Kendrapara district.

According to the Vigilance, the complainant, a new employee, had not received his salary since his joining in August, 2025. He had been requesting the accused Headmaster since then to furnish his attendance sheet to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) at the Kendrapara District Education Office to enable him to draw his arrear salary.

But, accused Das demanded bribe Rs 5,000 from to facilitate drawl of his arrear salary.

Upset over the illegal approach of the headmaster, the complainant brought the matter to the notice of the vigilance authorities.

“Upon receiving the information, a team of Odisha Vigilance, today, nabbed Sri Das while taking the demanded bribe money Rs 5,000 from the staffer. The entire bribe money of Rs 5000 has been recovered from exclusive possession of accused Sri Das and seized,” said a Vigilance release.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches are being conducted at two of Das's locations to ascertain if he amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. Cuttack vigilance divison has registered a case against Das.