Bhubaneswar, 15 July (H.S.): The Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday apprehended a Revenue Inspector (RI) of Sirijhuli Circle under Gunupur Tahasil in Rayagada district while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹25,000 for facilitating the mutation of ancestral land and issuance of a Record of Rights (ROR)/land patta.

The accused, Susanta Mallick, was caught red-handed inside his office while demanding and accepting the bribe from a complainant, according to a Vigilance release.

The complainant had applied online for mutation of ancestral land and issuance of the ROR/land patta after depositing the prescribed government fees, in accordance with the Revenue and Disaster Management Department's procedures.

However, the Vigilance alleged that the Revenue Inspector deliberately delayed processing the application without any valid reason. He subsequently demanded ₹25,000 from the applicant in exchange for submitting a favourable enquiry report and expediting the mutation file.

Acting on the complaint, the Odisha Vigilance laid a trap and apprehended the accused while he was accepting the bribe. The entire tainted amount of ₹25,000 was recovered from his possession and seized as evidence.

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

A case has been registered at Koraput Vigilance Police Station under Case No. 16/2026 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is underway.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda