Odisha civil service topper arrested for ₹15,000 bribe; ₹4.73 lakh cash seized

Odisha Vigilance has arrested Aswini Kumar Panda, a state civil service exam topper and current Tehsildar of Bamra in Sambalpur district, for allegedly demanding a ₹15,000 bribe to process a land conversion application.

According to authorities, Panda had asked a complainant seeking to convert agricultural land into homestead land to pay ₹20,000, later reducing it to ₹15,000 after the complainant expressed inability to meet the higher amount. Acting on a complaint, Vigilance officials staged a trap and caught Panda allegedly accepting the bribe through his driver. The full sum was recovered during the arrest.

Simultaneous searches at Panda’s Bhubaneswar residence, where his family resides, and his PWD IB accommodation led to the seizure of ₹4.73 lakh in cash. Panda’s driver, P. Praveen Kumar, has also been arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Investigations are ongoing.

Panda, 32, holds a B.Tech in mechanical engineering and topped the Odisha Civil Services Examination in 2019. He joined government service as a Training Reserve Officer (TRO) in December 2021 and previously served as Tehsildar in Shamakhunta, Mayurbhanj district before his posting in Bamra.

The case has sent shockwaves through the state bureaucracy, underlining persistent challenges in tackling corruption, even among top-ranking officers.