Bhubaneswar, 25 August (H.S.): The Odisha Vigilance on Monday apprehended Sri Jagaa Bariha, Sub-Inspector of Police at Bijepur Police Station in Bargarh district, while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹7,000 from a scrap dealer.

According to Vigilance sources, Bariha had initially demanded ₹10,000 from the complainant to allow him to continue his business without harassment and to avoid registration of a case. After the complainant expressed his inability to pay the full amount, the demand was reduced to ₹7,000. Bariha also allegedly threatened to take stern action if the bribe was not paid.

Acting on the complaint, Vigilance officials laid a trap and caught the SI red-handed while receiving the money. The entire tainted cash of ₹7,000 was recovered from his possession and seized as evidence.

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

In this connection, Sambalpur Vigilance PS Case No.16 dated 24.08.2025 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 has been registered. Further investigation is underway.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda