Additional Tehsildar Arrested for Taking Bribe in Ganjam

Bhubaneswar: Vigilance officials on Wednesday arrested the Additional Tehsildar of Belaguntha tehsil in Odisha’s Ganjam district on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe from a tractor owner.

The accused officer, identified as Kabiraj Sethi, had allegedly detained a tractor loaded with sand on February 5 without officially recording the seizure. Despite the tractor owner submitting the required documents, Sethi is said to have demanded a bribe for its release.

According to Vigilance sources, the complainant paid ₹30,000 towards tax/cess and an additional ₹10,000 as bribe to the officer. Acting on a complaint, the Vigilance team laid a trap and caught Sethi red-handed while accepting the bribe. The entire tainted money was recovered and seized.

Officials said discrepancies were noticed between the customer and office copies of the challans, and their verification is currently underway.

Simultaneous searches are being conducted at two locations linked to Sethi as part of an investigation into possible disproportionate assets (DA).

A case has been registered against him at Berhampur Vigilance Police Station (Case No. 01 dated 11.02.2026) under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is in progress.