Tehsildar in dock for taking Rs 12 lakh 'bribe'

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha vigilance wing on Monday detained Karanjia tehsildar in Mayurbhanj district for allegedly accepting Rs 12 lakh bribe through two cheques from a dhaba owner to release his compensation amount of Rs 51.75 lakh that he was eligible to get for acquisition of his land by the NHAI for a road widening project.
This is not just the highest bribe amount collected by a government officer arrested by vigilance in the state, but also the first time where the bribe was paid through cheques.
The anti-corruption wing arrested its own inspector Manasi Jena in Sambalpur for allegedly accepting Rs 10 lakh bribe on May 13, 2022 from a government officer after threatening him to frame him in a false corruption case.
Charles Nayak, the Karanjia tehsildar, had allegedly been harassing the dhaba owner, whose land was acquired by the NHAI recently. Nayak allegedly demanded Rs 12 lakh bribe from the man to release his compensation money. The tehsildar set a condition that he would receive the bribe through two cheques (Rs 10 lakh and Rs 2 lakh).
Nayak asked the man to leave the payee's name blank in the two cheques. Nayak wrote the name of one Athar Ali as payee in both the cheques and asked Ali to deposit them in bank. Ali is a local contractor.
"When Ali deposited the cheques, we got the transactions stopped and detained Nayak," a senior vigilance official said.
Ali, who is believed to be a close associate of Nayak, is on the run. Vigilance official said they would arrest Ali for allegedly abetting the crime.
"We have detained Nayak and are questioning him. Simultaneous search operations are underway at different places to know whether the tehsildar possessed disproportionate assets," the vigilance official said.
"Four separate teams of Odisha vigilance led by one additional superintendent of police, seven deputy superintendents of police, three inspectors and other staff have been verifying his property documents," the official added.