By Akshaya Kumar Sahoo

Copyright deccanchronicle

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Vigilance on Friday arrested Aswini Kumar Panda, a young Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer and Tehsildar of Bamra in Sambalpur district, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000. According to officials, Panda had demanded Rs 20,000 from a complainant for converting agricultural land into homestead land in a mutation case. Acting on a complaint, a Vigilance team laid a trap and caught him red-handed while accepting Rs 15,000 through his office driver, P. Praveen Kumar, who was also taken into custody. The entire tainted amount was recovered and seized. The 29-year-old officer’s arrest has shocked many, as Panda’s journey had been celebrated as an inspirational success story. A native of Khetrapal village in Dharmasala block of Jajpur district, he had topped the Odisha Civil Services in 2019 in his very first attempt, without taking coaching. An alumnus of Jana Kalyan High School and Ravenshaw University, Panda pursued B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from a private college in Berhampur in 2015. He later worked in Delhi for three years before returning to Odisha in 2018 to prepare for competitive examinations. Although he narrowly missed selection as an Assistant Section Officer by just 0.5 marks, he cleared the 2019 Odisha Civil Services examination, securing the coveted post of Tehsildar. Following his success, Panda had expressed a desire to contribute to grassroots development. “My aim is to work for the overall development of the region and its people. I have a special inclination towards education, health, and women’s empowerment. I will try my best to deliver services to the lowest strata of society,” he had said at the time. His arrest has now sparked widespread debate on integrity and accountability in public service.