Civil service topper from Odisha arrested for ‘taking Rs 15,000 bribe’

Vigilance officials said the complainant had applied for land conversion with the tahsildar’s office a month ago.

“Panda demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 to allow conversion and issue of record of right (RoR) in favour of the complainant. When the latter expressed his inability to pay such a huge amount as bribe, Panda reduced the bribe amount to Rs 15,000 and threatened to not allow the conversion in mutation case otherwise,” read the Vigilance statement.

The complainant then approached Vigilance authorities, following which a trap was laid on Friday. The tahsildar was nabbed by the Vigilance team from his office while allegedly taking the bribe from the complainant through his driver. The entire bribe amount was recovered, the Vigilance statement said.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches were launched on Panda’s residential property in Bhubaneswar, where his family lives, and at the PWD IB, where the tahsildar lives.

During searches, Vigilance personnel seized cash worth Rs 4,73,000 from his Bhubaneswar residence. His driver, P Praveen Kumar, has also been arrested by the Vigilance under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Further investigation is underway.

Panda (32), a B.Tech in mechanical engineering, topped the Odisha Civil Services Examinations in 2019 and entered government service as Training Reserve Officer (TRO), a post for junior Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officers, in December 2021. Before getting transferred to Bamra as tahsildar, Panda served as the Shamakhunta tahsildar in Mayurbhanj district.