Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday arrested a Revenue Inspector (RI) of Sirijhuli Circle under Gunupur Tahasil in Rayagada district for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 to submit a favourable inquiry report in a mutation case and facilitate the issuance of a Record of Rights (ROR), commonly known as a land patta.

The accused has been identified as Susanta Mallick, Revenue Inspector of Sirijhuli Circle.

According to Vigilance officials, the complainant had applied online for mutation of his ancestral land in accordance with the Revenue and Disaster Management Department's prescribed procedure and had also paid the required government fees. However, the process was allegedly delayed without any valid reason.

Officials said Mallick allegedly demanded Rs 25,000 from the applicant in exchange for submitting a favourable inquiry report and helping secure the ROR in the applicant's name. Alleging harassment, the complainant approached Odisha Vigilance, which laid a trap.

On Wednesday, Vigilance officials caught Mallick red-handed while he was allegedly accepting the bribe amount of Rs 25,000 from the complainant inside his office chamber. The entire tainted cash was recovered from his possession and seized.

Following the trap, Vigilance launched simultaneous searches at three locations linked to the accused to investigate assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

A case has been registered at Koraput Vigilance Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway.