In a major anti-corruption drive, the Odisha Vigilance Department has arrested Kabiraj Sethi, Additional Tahsildar of Belaguntha in Ganjam district, while he was allegedly accepting a bribe to release a sand-laden tractor that he had detained without proper records.
The tractor was seized on February 5, 2026, but never entered the official records. Despite the owner submitting all supporting documents, Sethi reportedly demanded money for its release. Today, when the complainant met him, the Additional Tahsildar first collected Rs 30,000 as tax/cess and then took an additional Rs 10,000 as bribe. A Vigilance team immediately swooped in and caught him with the tainted money.
The entire bribe amount has been recovered and seized from his possession. Officials are now scrutinising the challans due to missing details and discrepancies between the customer and office copies.
Following the trap, simultaneous raids are underway at two locations linked to Sethi to probe his assets from the disproportionate assets (DA) angle.
A case has been registered at Berhampur Vigilance Police Station (Case No. 01 dated 11.02.2026) under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Further investigation is in progress.
