Keonjhar Settlement Office Staff Caught Taking Bribe for Land Records

Keonjhar Settlement Office Staff Caught Taking Bribe for Land Records

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Wednesday apprehended Hadibandhu Behera, Assistant Record Keeper (ARK) at the Settlement Office in Keonjhar, for accepting a bribe of ₹3,000 in exchange for providing certified land documents.

According to an official release, Behera was caught red-handed while taking the bribe from a poor farmer who had requested certified copies of the Khatian and Amin reports for a disputed ancestral land. The farmer had initially submitted the request on July 4, 2025, but Behera allegedly withheld the documents and demanded a bribe for their release.

After repeated delays, the complainant reported the matter to the Vigilance Department, which quickly laid a trap. Behera was nabbed at his office while accepting the bribe, and the entire amount was recovered from his possession.

Following the arrest, Vigilance officials launched simultaneous searches at two locations associated with Behera as part of a disproportionate assets investigation.

A case (Balasore Vigilance P.S. Case No. 08/2025) has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. The investigation is currently underway.

Further details are awaited as the probe progresses.