Cuttack: Odisha Vigilance on Saturday apprehended a TPCODLemployee while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a farmer for replacing a damaged electric pole from his agricultural land in Cuttack district.

The accused has been identified as Dharma Niranjan Chaudhury, Lineman-A of the Narsinghpur Electrical Section under Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL).

According to Vigilance officials, an 11 KV power line passes through the complainant's agricultural land, where an electric pole had become damaged and posed a potential safety hazard. Concerned about the risk of an accident, the farmer approached the local electricity office seeking replacement of the pole.

TPCODL lineman had demanded Rs 25,000 for pole replacement

Chaudhury was assigned the task and allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000 from the farmer to carry out the work. On June 2, he reportedly replaced the damaged pole with a new one and received Rs 8,000 through a UPI transaction from the farmer.

Subsequently, the lineman allegedly demanded the remaining Rs 17,000 and reportedly refused to remove the old damaged pole from the field until the amount was paid.

Unable to pay the full amount, the farmer negotiated with the accused, following which the alleged bribe demand was reduced to Rs 15,000. Aggrieved by the alleged harassment, the farmer approached Odisha Vigilance and lodged a complaint.

Acting on the complaint, Vigilance officials laid a trap and caught Chaudhury red-handed while allegedly accepting Rs 15,000 from the complainant on Saturday.

The entire bribe amount was recovered from the exclusive possession of the accused and seized in the presence of witnesses, officials said.

Following the trap, Vigilance teams launched searches at a property linked to the accused to investigate possible disproportionate assets.

A case has been registered at Cuttack Vigilance Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. The case has been registered as Cuttack Vigilance PS Case No. 22 dated June 5, 2026.

Officials said the investigation is underway and further details will emerge after the completion of searches and examination of financial records.

Odisha Vigilance reiterated its commitment to taking strict action against corruption and urged citizens to report instances of bribery and misuse of official position.