SAMBALPUR: A police sub-inspector in Sambalpur district who allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 10,000 jumped into a pond to evade arrest after he spotted vigilance department officials waiting to nab him on Wednesday.
SI Sujit Kumar Mohanta, posted at Mahulpali police station, had allegedly demanded the bribe to finalise a case registered against a person at the police station. Mohanta was the investigating officer in the case. The person alerted the vigilance department about the bribe demand.
According to vigilance officials, Mohanta called the person to a secluded place outside the police station in the evening. After accepting the bribe amount, he spotted the vigilance team and fled the spot.
The vigilance personnel chased him, but he jumped into a nearby pond. A vigilance team member also jumped into the water and swam after him, eventually apprehending him. The bribe amount was recovered from his possession.
Following the trap, Vigilance launched searches at different locations linked to the accused to ascertain whether he had accumulated assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. During a search of his rest room on the police station premises, officials recovered an additional Rs 1,55,700 in cash.
Sambalpur Vigilance Police registered a case against him under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Mohanta had joined Odisha Police as a SI in 2021 through direct recruitment.