Sonepur: Vigilance sleuths here Wednesday arrested Vivekananda Tripathy, assistant RI, in-charge Sindurpur Revenue Circle, under Binika tehsil in Subarnapur district, while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a complainant for conversion of his land from agricultural to non-agricultural. Complainant Surya Kumar Mahakud of Balaranga village under Sindurpur revenue division had applied for conversion of his land and issuance of RoR. Binika tehsildar then sent a letter to the in-charge RI of Sindurpur to conduct a field visit and provide the report.
However, the accused ARI demanded Rs 60,000 from the complainant to provide the report to the tehsildar. Finding no other way, Mahakud lodged a complaint against the ARI with the Vigilance Department Tuesday. The anti-corruption wing of Sambalpur registered a case (26/2024) in this regard and laid a trap to nab Tripathy. The ARI was putting the cash amounting Rs 20,000 in his pocket when Subarnapur Vigilance DSP Ritanjali Pradhan and inspector Dillip Kumar Pradhan, who were present there as per an earlier plan, caught him red-handed. The Vigilance sleuths also seized 40 pieces of Rs 500 denomination notes from Tripathy’s possession. He was taken into custody for questioning. Simultaneous searches were conducted at two locations linked to Tripathy. Further investigation was underway in the case against Tripathy and a detailed report is awaited.