Kataka Vigilance officers trapped and arrested a Junior Revenue Assistant (JRA) stationed at the Sub-Collector’s Office in Jajpur while accepting a bribe of Rs 40,000.
The accused official, identified as Prasanna Kumar Sahani, was apprehended inside his office room after demanding money to facilitate official permission for the purchase of land belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC) landowner.
5 Catchy Headlines
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Red-Handed: Odisha Vigilance Nabs Jajpur Revenue Official Accepting Rs 40K Bribe
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Sub-Collector Office Corruption: JRA Trapped in Jajpur Over SC Land Sale Permission
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Price Per Decimal: Vigilance Arrests Jajpur Official for Demanding Bribe on SC Land Deal
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Anti-Corruption Crackdown: Rs 40,000 Tainted Cash Recovered from Jajpur Revenue Assistant
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Vigilance Trap: Jajpur Staffer Nabbed as Disproportionate Assets Searches Begin
Delayed Files and Per-Decimal Demand
Under state regulatory laws, purchasing landed property from members of the SC/ST community strictly requires prior approval from the competent authority. The complainant had submitted an official application on November 29, 2025, seeking permission to buy a 16-decimal patch of land in favour of his mother.
Despite repeated follow-ups over several months, Sahani deliberately stalled the processing file. The official initially demanded a bribe calculated at a rate of Rs 3,000 per decimal, totalling Rs 48,000. After the complainant pleaded inability to pay, Sahani scaled down the demand to Rs 40,000.
“Faced with persistent harassment and undue delay in processing a statutory permission file, the complainant approached the Vigilance authorities to seek legal action against the public servant.”
Trap Execution and Simultaneous Searches
Upon receiving the complaint, the Odisha Vigilance Department laid a targeted trap at the Sub-Collector’s office in Jajpur. Sahani was caught moments after accepting the negotiated bribe amount of Rs 40,000 from the applicant.
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Evidence Recovery: The entire tainted bribe money of Rs 40,000 was recovered from Sahani’s exclusive possession and seized on the spot.
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Disproportionate Assets Probe: Immediately following the trap, Vigilance teams initiated simultaneous house searches at two locations associated with Sahani to assess potential Disproportionate Assets (DA).
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Legal Action Registered: A case has been registered at the Kataka Vigilance Police Station under Case No. 37/2026 pursuant to Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
Further investigation into the matter is actively underway.
