Bhubaneswar , Odisha : Tahsildar bribery Odisha came to light today as Sri Aswini Kumar Panda, OAS, Tahsildar of Bamra, Sambalpur, was arrested by Odisha Vigilance for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 to convert agricultural land to homestead land. The operation was conducted after the complainant approached authorities when threatened with non-approval of the land mutation.
For about a month, the complainant had been requesting the Tahasildar for the land conversion. Initially, Sri Panda demanded Rs. 20,000 to approve the conversion and issue the Record of Rights (RORs) in favor of the complainant. When the complainant expressed inability to pay the demanded amount, the Tahasildar reduced the bribe to Rs. 15,000 and threatened to deny the conversion otherwise.
Left with no option, the complainant approached Odisha Vigilance authorities. Acting on the complaint, a team nabbed Sri Panda while accepting the bribe through his office driver, Sri P. Praveen Kumar, who was also taken into custody. The entire tainted amount of Rs. 15,000 has been recovered and seized.
Following the trap, Odisha Vigilance is conducting simultaneous searches at three locations linked to Sri Panda under the provisions of the DA Act.
In this connection, Sambalpur Vigilance P.S. Case No.17 dt.11.09.2025 U/s.7 P.C. (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered. Investigation is in progress against both the accused persons namely Sri Panda, Tahasildar and Sri P. Praveen Kumar, Driver. Detailed report follows.
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