Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Thursday apprehended a junior clerk and a driver attached to the Brahmagiri Tahasil office in Puri district for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from an applicant in connection with the demarcation of a plot of land.
The accused have been identified as Narendra Kumar Sahoo, Junior Clerk (Record Keeper), and Jitendra Kumar Sahoo, Driver, both posted at the Brahmagiri Tahasil.
According to Vigilance officials, the complainant had submitted an online application on April 3, 2026, seeking demarcation of his plot under the prescribed procedures of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department. Investigators alleged that Narendra Kumar Sahoo had earlier accepted Rs 8,000 from the applicant to initiate the process but failed to take any action thereafter.
Despite receiving the initial amount, the junior clerk allegedly demanded an additional Rs 20,000 for issuing and serving the necessary notices required for completing the demarcation process. Unable to bear the alleged harassment, the applicant approached Odisha Vigilance and lodged a complaint.
Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap and apprehended Narendra Kumar Sahoo and Jitendra Kumar Sahoo while they were allegedly accepting the Rs 20,000 bribe inside the junior clerk’s office. The entire tainted amount was recovered from their possession and seized as evidence.
Following the successful trap, simultaneous searches were launched at two locations linked to Narendra Kumar Sahoo to examine assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Odisha Vigilance has registered Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station Case No. 17 dated July 29, 2026, under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation against both accused is underway.
Vigilance officials also stated that Narendra Kumar Sahoo had previously been arrested in another trap case for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 18,000 to facilitate the conversion of agricultural land into homestead land.
