The Odisha Vigilance has arrested Ajay Kumar Garanaik, the Special Land Acquisition Officer for the Sambalpur-Talcher Railway Project, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,10,000.
According to officials, the accused officer demanded the heavy kickback from a landowner in exchange for releasing a pending compensation amount of ₹84,62,288. The funds were owed to the complainant for land acquired for the railway project. Furthermore, the bribe was reportedly meant to secure the officer’s favourable intervention regarding additional compensation expected during the upcoming third railway line project.
Following a meticulously planned trap, vigilance sleuths caught the official red-handed. A case has been officially registered against him at the Sambalpur Vigilance Police Station (Case No. 20/2026) under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
The accused official is being forwarded to the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, in Sambalpur today. Investigators are conducting further searches and continuing their probe to unearth any potential wider nexus.
