In Odisha’s Bamra, Sambalpur district, Tehsildar Ashwini Panda has been caught taking Rs 15,000 bribe by the state vigilance department officials today, on September 12. As per reports, the Tehsildar had sought the amount for converting a piece of agricultural land into homestead land in a mutation application.
Tehsildar Ashwini Panda had topped the Odisha Civil Services examination in 2019 and secured the first rank.
Panda’s arrest is the latest in a long series of arrests and raids against corrput state government officials in the state.
Some state government officials have been found in possession of over a hundred plots, multiple bungalows and crores in cash in the state.
In addition to Panda, the state vigilance sleuths have nabbed two more officers, Nayagarh district labour officer (DLO) Chittaranjan Raut has been arrested while taking Rs 6000 bribe from a labourers for issuance of labour cards for him and 19 other poor daily wage workers.
Pushpita Mahakud, a Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) in the Mayurbhanj district, has been arrested for her alleged involvement in a funds embezzlement case.
