Balasore: Odisha Vigilance Thursday arrested the Soro tehsildar in Balasore district while he was allegedly accepting a bribe to release seized stone-laden trucks.
The accused, identified as Daitari Mallik, and his associate, Dayanidhi Jena, were apprehended in the afternoon while accepting Rs 40,000 from a truck owner.
According to reports, Mallik had detained five stone-laden trucks since Feb. 11. He allegedly demanded Rs 1 lakh to avoid handing the vehicles over to the mining department and to save the owner from a hefty penalty. After the truck owner expressed an inability to pay the amount, the bribe was allegedly negotiated down to Rs 40,000.
The truck owner subsequently informed Vigilance authorities. Acting on the complaint, the Vigilance team caught Mallik and his associate while they were accepting the bribe through an intermediary. The entire bribe amount was recovered from their possession.
Following the arrest, simultaneous searches were launched at three locations linked to Mallik to verify allegations of possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
A case has been registered at the Balasore Vigilance police station, and further investigation is underway.
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