Odisha Vigilance nabs revenue inspector while ‘accepting’ Rs 40,000 bribe in Sambalpur

Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday apprehended Bhisma Pradhan, Revenue Inspector (RI) of Goudpalli Revenue Circle under Jamankira Tahasil in Sambalpur district, while he was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000 from a landless complainant in connection with a lease case.

According to sources, Pradhan had demanded the bribe in exchange for submitting a favourable report to facilitate the issuance of Record of Rights (RoR), or land patta, in favour of the complainant and his family. 

The complainant had reportedly been making repeated requests since November 2024, but the RI insisted on payment of the bribe to move the case forward, sources added.

With no alternative left, the complainant approached the Vigilance authorities. Acting on the complaint, a team of the anti-corruption agency laid a trap and caught the RI red-handed while accepting the bribe amount.

The entire sum has been recovered from his possession and seized as evidence.

Following the arrest, simultaneous searches were conducted at two locations linked to Pradhan to investigate potential disproportionate assets.

A case has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018, at the Sambalpur Vigilance Police Station. 

Further investigation is currently underway.