Odisha Vigilance Nabs Mancheswar ASI & Home Guard Driver In Rs 50K Bribe Trap

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Thursday arrested an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) attached to Mancheswar Police Station and a Home Guard Driver on charges of accepting a bribe in exchange for returning seized mobile phones and providing assistance in a criminal matter.

The accused have been identified as Rajesh Kullu, an ASI serving as the investigating officer in the case, and Jyoti Ranjan Behera, a Home Guard Driver. The duo was apprehended during a Vigilance operation while allegedly accepting Rs 20,000 from a complainant.

According to Vigilance officials, Kullu had earlier received Rs 30,000 from the complainant on June 12 and reportedly handed over one of the two mobile phones seized during the investigation. A few days later, when the complainant sought the return of the second handset, he was allegedly asked to pay another Rs 20,000.

The ASI is said to have directed the complainant to hand over the money to the Home Guard Driver and collect the mobile phone from him. Unwilling to comply with the alleged demand, the complainant approached Vigilance authorities and lodged a complaint.

Acting on the information, Vigilance officials laid a trap and caught both accused red-handed while accepting the bribe amount. The cash was recovered and seized as evidence.

Following the arrests, Vigilance teams launched searches at properties linked to the ASI to examine whether he possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

A case has been registered at the Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is in progress.