Odisha Vigilance Nabs Kendujhar Revenue Assistant for Accepting ₹6,000 Bribe.

Kendujhar, 28/08(PPT): The Odisha Vigilance Department on Friday apprehended a Junior Revenue Assistant (JRA) of Patana Tahasil in Kendujhar district while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹6,000 from an applicant in connection with a land mutation case.

The accused, identified as B.H. Umashankar, Junior Revenue Assistant, Office of the Tahasildar, Patana, was allegedly demanding the money for processing the applicant’s mutation file and facilitating the issuance of the Record of Rights (RoR) in the name of the applicant and other coparceners.

According to the Vigilance authorities, the applicant had submitted an online application on June 3, 2026, seeking mutation of the land in accordance with the rules of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department. When the applicant later enquired about the status of the case, Umashankar allegedly demanded ₹6,000 for processing the file.

Aggrieved by the demand, the applicant approached the Odisha Vigilance authorities. Acting on the complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap on Friday and allegedly caught Umashankar while accepting the bribe from the complainant at the garage of the Patana Tahasil office.

The entire tainted amount of ₹6,000 was recovered from the possession of the accused and seized by the Vigilance officials.

Following the trap, simultaneous searches were reportedly underway at two locations linked to Umashankar as part of an investigation into his assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

In connection with the case, Baleshwar Vigilance Police Station Case No. 17/2026 has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

Further investigation into the case is underway.