Overview

• Tahasildar Aswini Kumar Panda was apprehended in Bamra after allegedly taking Rs 15,000 through his office driver to process a land conversion.
• Officials allege he first demanded Rs 20,000 and warned the applicant the conversion would be blocked if the payment was not made.
• Driver P. Praveen Kumar was caught receiving the cash, and both were taken into custody under the Prevention of Corruption Act with the tainted money recovered.
• Searches at Panda’s office, Bamra accommodation and Bhubaneswar residence yielded about Rs 4.73 lakh in cash along with gold ornaments.
• In separate actions, Vigilance arrested Nayagarh District Labour Officer Chittaranjan Rout for a Rs 6,000 bribe over labour cards and detained former PEO Puspita Mahakud for alleged Rs 5.68 lakh pension fund misappropriation.