A senior Inspector of the state police was arrested by the Odisha Vigilance on Sunday, on corruption charges, after he was apprehended red-handed accepting a bribe from a licensed liquor vendor to permit the smooth operation of his business.
The accused official, identified as Bijay Kumar Barik, is currently posted as Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) at the CRRI Police Station in Cuttack.
The liquor vendor filed a formal complaint with the Vigilance Department, alleging that Barik had been consistently demanding undue financial favours on multiple occasions.
Unable to cope with the persistent demands for money, the vendor sought help from the anti-corruption authorities.
Acting on the tip-off, Odisha Vigilance officials orchestrated a trap on Sunday and caught Barik red-handed in the act of receiving a bribe of Rs 40,000 at Rajmahal Chowk in Bhubaneswar. The entire bribe amount was recovered from his possession in the presence of witnesses.
Following the successful trap, simultaneous search operations were conducted at Barik’s government residential quarters at Unit-1 in Bhubaneswar and his office premises in Cuttack.
During these raids, the anti-corruption sleuths uncovered significant assets, including a triple-storeyed building in Sisupalgarh, Bhubaneswar, a newly built double-storeyed house at Derabis in Kendrapara district, and Rs 4,96,120 in cash.
In this connection, a case has been registered at the Vigilance Cell Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
On Friday, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi advised the state Vigilance department to continue its drive against corruption, asserting that the time has come to make Odisha corruption-free and set an example that would deter government officials from engaging in corrupt practices.
In 2025, Vigilance teams conducted raids at 487 locations across the state and took action in cases involving disproportionate assets and bribery.
As part of the crackdown, 1,199 bank accounts linked to corrupt government officials were frozen.
Significant assets were seized during these operations, including 153 buildings, 417 plots of land, 12 farmhouses and 18.3 kg of gold.
