Odisha IAS Officer Caught Taking ₹10 Lakh Bribe

Bhubaneswar: In a major crackdown on corruption, the Vigilance Department today caught a 2021-batch IAS officer red-handed while accepting a ₹10 lakh bribe from a businessman in Dharmagarh, Kalahandi district.

The officer, identified as Dhiman Chakma, currently serving as the Sub-Collector of Dharmagarh, had allegedly demanded ₹20 lakh from the businessman under threat of initiating government action against his business. Acting on a complaint filed by the businessman, the Vigilance team laid a trap and caught Chakma while he was accepting the first installment of ₹10 lakh at his official residence.

According to Vigilance officials, 26 bundles of cash in various denominations were recovered from the officer’s drawer during the raid. Both hand wash and drawer wash yielded positive chemical reactions, confirming the bribery transaction.

Further searches at Chakma’s official residence led to the recovery of an additional ₹47 lakh in unaccounted cash. A case has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018, and further investigations are ongoing.

Dhiman Chakma hails from the Kanchanpur area of Tripura. He secured the 482nd rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 2020 and had previously cleared the Indian Forest Service (IFS) exam. Before joining the IAS, he served as a Forest Department officer in Baripada, Mayurbhanj district.

The arrest has sparked widespread discussions about corruption within the bureaucracy, especially among newly inducted civil servants.