Bhubaneswar, 02 November (H.S.): Odisha Vigilance on Monday arrested Ajay Kumar Garanaik, Special Land Acquisition Officer of the Sambalpur-Talcher Doubling Rail Line Project, while he was allegedly accepting the remaining ₹3.10 lakh of a bribe from a landowner.

According to Odisha Vigilance, Garanaik had demanded ₹5.10 lakh from the complainant in exchange for releasing ₹84,62,288 as land acquisition compensation and extending favourable treatment during future land acquisition for the proposed third railway line project.

The officer had allegedly accepted ₹2 lakh from the complainant on October 27 and was pressuring him to pay the remaining ₹3.10 lakh immediately. He had also allegedly threatened to create problems for the complainant during future land acquisition for the third railway line project if the balance amount was not paid.

Aggrieved by the alleged harassment, the landowner approached the Vigilance authorities and lodged a complaint. Acting on the complaint, an Odisha Vigilance team laid a trap on Monday and apprehended Garanaik while he was allegedly receiving the remaining bribe amount of ₹3.10 lakh.

The entire tainted amount of ₹3,10,000 was recovered from his possession and seized by the Vigilance team.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches are underway at three locations linked to Garanaik to investigate the disproportionate assets angle.

In this connection, Sambalpur Vigilance Police Station Case No. 20, dated November 1, 2026, has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation into the case is underway. Odisha Vigilance said a detailed report would follow.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda