BHUBANESWAR: An OAS officer and a data entry operator (DEO) landed in Vigilance net on Thursday for accepting `1.20 lakh as bribe from a person for land conversion.The officer Rashmi Rekha Pradhan is currently posted as Balianta Tehsildar. DEO Dhaneswar Sahoo was caught red-handed by Vigilance while taking the bribe from Kailash Chandra Rath of Shastri Nagar allegedly on Pradhan’s behalf for conversion of an agricultural land kisam into homestead registered under Balianta Tehsil.
Rath had contacted Sahoo as he was dealing with Odisha Land Reforms cases. Sahoo allegedly asked Rath to pay `1.25 lakh towards conversion fee and `1.20 lakh as bribe for processing his file.A trap was laid and Sahoo was caught red-handed from his office room. Both the Tehsildar and DEO have been arrested.