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Civil services exam topper from Odisha arrested for taking bribe of Rs 15,000

The Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer allegedly took the bribe to convert agricultural land into homestead land. He was arrested by Odisha Vigilance and remanded to jail custody. Besides, his driver was also arrested for abetment and cash worth Rs 4.7 lakh were recovered from his house after officials raided his house.

The Vigilance department recovered cash worth Rs 4.7 lakh from the OAS officer's residence after a raid
The Vigilance department recovered cash worth Rs 4.7 lakh from the OAS officer's residence after a raid Credit:X
| Updated on: Sep 13, 2025 | 10:17 AM
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Puri: A civil services exam topper from Odisha was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe in a land mutation case. Ashwini Kumar Panda, who was serving as the tahsildar of Bamra in Sambalpur district of the state, was caught taking bribe of Rs 15,000. Panda is the topper of Odisha Civil Services Examination, 2019. The Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer allegedly took the bribe to convert agricultural land into homestead land.

Panda was arrested by Odisha Vigilance from his office while allegedly taking bribe from the complainant through his driver, and remanded to jail custody. Besides, his driver, identified as P Praveen Kumar, was also arrested for abetment. The Vigilance department also recovered cash worth Rs 4.7 lakh from the OAS officer's residence after conducting a raid.

"Aswini Kr Panda, OAS-2019, Tahsildar, Bamra, #SBP was remanded to jail custody following arrest by #Odisha #Vigilance for taking bribe Rs15,000/- in a land mutation case. Further, cash Rs 4.7 lakhs recovered during his house search. His driver has also been arrested for abetment," Odisha Vigilance department said in a statement.

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Panda demanded Rs 20,000 bribe
The complainant had requested for land conversion with tahsildar's office a month ago, according to Vigilance officials. "Panda demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 to allow conversion and issue of record of right (ROR) in favour of the complainant. When the latter expressed his ability to pay such a huge amount as bribe, Panda reduced the bribe amount to Rs 15,000 and threatened to now allow the conversion in nutation case otherwise," the Vigilance department's statement read.
The complainant later reported the matter to the Vigilance team which laid the trap and caught the OAS officer taking bribe red handed. Panda's arrest left many shocked in Odisha as he topped the civil services exam in 2019 in first attempt, that too without coaching.
Earlier in June, Dhiman Chakma, a 2021-batch IAS officer, was nabbed for taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a businessman. Chakma who was serving as sub-collector in  Dharamgarh in Kalahandi threatened to act against his business, according to Odisha Vigilance. The Vigilance team also recovered Rs 47 lakh cash during search at his government residence.
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