Bhubaneswar, March 29: Officials of Odisha Vigilance apprehended a Revenue Inspector (RI) in Cuttack district while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹30,000.
The accused, identified as Rajaram Bandra, was serving as Revenue Inspector (RI) at Mangarajpur under Tangi-Choudwar Tahasil. He was caught red-handed today while taking the bribe from a landowner in his office premises.
According to official sources, the complainant had applied online on March 10, 2026, seeking conversion of his Patita land into homestead land, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Revenue & Disaster Management Department. However, the process took a corrupt turn when the accused allegedly contacted the applicant and demanded ₹30,000 in exchange for submitting a favourable report in the mutation case.
The Revenue Inspector reportedly instructed the landowner to visit his office today with the bribe amount and allegedly threatened that failure to pay would result in an adverse report.
Disturbed by the demand and left with no alternative, the landowner approached the vigilance authorities. Acting swiftly, a team from Odisha Vigilance laid a trap and apprehended Bandra while he was accepting the bribe.
Officials confirmed that the entire tainted amount of ₹30,000 was recovered from the possession of the accused and subsequently seized as evidence.
Following the arrest, simultaneous searches are being conducted at two locations linked to the accused to probe possible disproportionate assets (DA).
In connection with the incident, a case has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 at Cuttack Vigilance Police Station, vide Case No. 13/2026.
