Vigilance Trap / Odisha Vigilance Arrests Balangir RI for Rs3,000 Bribe, Jajpur ABEO in DA Case

Bhubaneswar, October 13: The Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday arrested a Revenue Inspector in Balangir district for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs3,000 to facilitate the conversion of agricultural land into homestead land, officials said.

In a separate case, a government education official in Jajpur district was arrested after Vigilance officials found that his assets were 68 per cent disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The Revenue Inspector, Alan Behera, posted at the Saintala Revenue Circle in Balangir, was apprehended in his office room while allegedly accepting the bribe from a complainant seeking land conversion in a mutation case.

According to Vigilance officials, the complainant had applied online for land conversion on September 7. Behera allegedly demanded Rs6,000 to process the application, submit a field enquiry report to the competent authority and facilitate the issuance of a homestead record of rights (RoR).

When the applicant expressed his inability to pay the amount, the Revenue Inspector allegedly reduced the demand to Rs3,000. Aggrieved by the demand, the applicant approached the Vigilance authorities.

Acting on the complaint, Vigilance personnel laid a trap on Tuesday and caught Behera allegedly accepting Rs3,000 from the applicant. Following the arrest, simultaneous searches were launched at his office and residential house at Patharla under Titilagarh in Balangir district.

In a separate case, Vigilance officials arrested Jayadev Jena, Assistant Block Education Officer (ABEO) of Dharmasala in Jajpur district, on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

During searches at properties linked to Jena, officials reportedly found three multi-storeyed buildings, 19 plots in Bhubaneswar and in the Khalikote and Kodala areas of Ganjam district, and approximately 740 grams of gold. The searches also led to the detection of deposits amounting to Rs40 lakh, one four-wheeler, two two-wheelers and household articles valued at Rs18.65 lakh.

Following a detailed search, inventory and further inquiry, officials calculated Jena’s income, expenditure and assets. The assessment found that his assets exceeded his known sources of income by 68 per cent, a Vigilance official said.

The two arrests mark separate actions by the State’s anti-corruption agency against alleged corruption and unexplained wealth involving government personnel.

Further investigation into both cases is underway.