Two Puri Revenue Officials Arrested for Taking Bribe

In a development that has sparked talk across the district, Odisha Vigilance swooped in on Monday and placed two revenue officers under arrest. The men – identified as Revenue Inspector Kalyani Jena and Assistant Revenue Inspector Purna Chandra Behera – were caught red‑handed demanding a cash payment to speed up a mutation case.

The case, according to the official press release, involved a farmer who had applied to convert his agricultural plot into homestead land. When he went to the Siula RI Circle office in Pipili Tahasil to check on his application, the two officials allegedly asked for Rs 35,000 before they would even file the enquiry report.

It wasn’t a one‑off request either. The applicant says he was repeatedly pressed for the money, despite his repeated refusals. Frustrated, he finally approached the vigilance department, setting the whole thing in motion.

Vigilance officers, acting on the complaint, laid a trap. When the applicant handed over the cash, Jena and Behera were caught accepting it. The full amount was recovered on the spot and confiscated as evidence.

But the story didn’t end there. In the same breath, vigilance teams started searches at the officials’ residences – Bramhakumdi (Charichhak), Achyutapur (Chandanpur) and Rasulgarh in Bhubaneswar – as well as at their workplace. The purpose: to probe any disproportionate assets they might be hiding.

The case has now been formally logged as Bhubaneswar Vigilance Police Station Case No. 20, dated September 5, 2026, under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. An investigation is ongoing, and a detailed report is expected soon.

While the official narrative is clear, the episode has raised fresh questions about the integrity of land‑conversion processes in the region. For many locals, it’s a stark reminder that even routine paperwork can sometimes hide a darker, money‑driven side.