Vigilance officers on Thursday arrested Kandhamal district’s Sankarkhola beat house Forest Guard Manoranjan Amat for taking bribe of Rs 5,000 from Srimukha Kanhar of Sirkakuti village under the Tikabali police station for not taking legal action against him.
About 15 days back, Amat had detected Kanhar taking stones in a hired tractor for his domestic use.
Amat demanded and accepted Rs 3,000 as bribe from him and asked him to pay a further amount of Rs 5,000 while threatening to entangle him in a forest case. Kanhar reported the matter to the Brahmapur Vigilance SP.
Accordingly, Vigilance police led a trap and caught the Forest Guard red-handed while taking Rs 5,000 in his official residence from Kanhar.
His Government quarter-cum-beat house at Sankarakhola and residential house at Bandhagada under Phiringia PS in Kandhamal district were under search, an official release said.