Vigilance officials on Friday arrested a tehsildar and forwarded him to court on the charges of demanding bribe of Rs 45,000 from a local resident to change the land ‘kisam’ at Begunia in Khordha district.
The accused government official has been identified as Pruthbiraj Mandal. Officials had detained him from his Kalinga Vihar-based residence in Bhubaneswar two days back.
According to sources, a local had approached Mandal to change his land kisam for which the former demanded a whopping Rs 45,000. Despite running from pillar to post and expressing to inability to give such a huge amount, Mandal refused to change his land kisam and demanded the bribe amount.
With no other way out, the man alerted the vigilance who hatched a plan to catch Mandal red-handed. As per the plan, the local took chemical-laced notes and handed over to Mandal while officials in disguised manner were present near his office.
Then they conducted a sudden raid and caught him red-handed. Soon after, simultaneous searches were conducted at his office in Begunia, residence in Kalinga Vihar and ancestral home in Tumudibandh of Kandhamal district.
Mandal has several accounts in many banks with lakhs of rupees, sources said. Further probe into his money deposits and transaction is on, said Vigilance SP.
Speaking to media personnel, Vigilance SP M. Radhakrushna said, “We have seized the chemical-laced Rs 45,000 from his possession. We also conducted simultaneous searches at his Begunia office, government quarter, residence in Kalinga Vihar and parent’s house in Tumudibandh. We have sought the help of banks to know about his deposits and transactions. We are also probing into his landed properties.”