Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance sleuths have arrested Khandapada tehsildar Dhobei Nayak and his associate Prasanna Kumar Sahoo for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000.
In another case, Sub Inspector of Police Keshab Chadra Das was also arrested by Vigilance for accepting a bribe of Rs. 5,000.
Vigilance sources said the tahasildar received the bribe money through his associates from the complainant to release his detained morrum-laden Hyva truck.
The two were caught during a trap Tuesday by the team of Odisha Vigilance. The entire bribe was recovered from the possession of Sahoo and seized in the presence of witnesses.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches have been launched on the residential house of the tahsildar at BadaRaghunathpur, PS-Info Valley, Bhaneswar, the residential house at Bhapur, and his office room.
Both of the accused have been arrested today and forwarded to the court.
Earlier, repeated inputs were received regarding the demand and acceptance of huge bribes by the Tahsildar with the help of his associates from various morrum transporters and brick kiln owners in their jurisdiction.
Sub-Inspector (SI) of Police, Binjharpur Police Station Keshab Chandra Dash, was also apprehended by Odisha Vigilance Wednesday for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 5,000 from the son of a deceased person who died recently in an accident.
The SI demanded a bribe to provide him with the post-mortem report and other documents required to file a compensation or insurance claim.
The complainant, being a poor person, requested the SI for consideration, but the SI insisted on the bribe amount to provide the necessary documents.
Vigilance sources said a trap was laid Wednesday, and the SI was caught by the team of Odisha Vigilance in his government quarter at Binjharpur.
The entire bribe money was recovered from the possession of Dash and seized in the presence of witnesses.
Following the trap, simultaneous searches have been launched at various places.
The SI has been arrested and will be forwarded to the court, Vigilance sources said.
UNI