IAS Officer Caught Red-Handed Accepting Bribe, Sent to Judicial Custody
Kalahandi (Odisha), 10th June 2025: A major corruption scandal has rocked Odisha after Dhiman Chakma, a 2021-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer serving as Sub-Collector in Dharamgarh, Kalahandi district, was apprehended by Vigilance officials while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a local businessman on Sunday.
According to official statements, Chakma allegedly demanded a total bribe of Rs 20 lakh from the businessman, threatening to take punitive action against the latter’s stone crusher unit if the payment was not made. Acting on a complaint filed by the businessman, the Odisha Vigilance Department set up a trap and caught Chakma red-handed at his government residence in Dharamgarh while he was accepting the first instalment of Rs 10 lakh.
Vigilance officials reported that Chakma personally counted the bundles of cash and placed them in his office table drawer. Chemical tests conducted on Chakma’s hands and the drawer confirmed the handling of the bribe money.
Following the arrest, a search of Chakma’s official residence led to the recovery of an additional Rs 47 lakh in cash, for which he could not provide a satisfactory explanation. The entire bribe amount was seized in the presence of witnesses.
A case has been registered against Chakma under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act of 2018. On Monday, a local court in Bhawanipatna denied his bail plea and remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody.
Dhiman Chakma hails from Tripura and is a computer science graduate from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Agartala. He initially joined the Indian Forest Service in Odisha before clearing the civil services exam and being appointed as an IAS officer in 2021. He took charge as Sub-Collector of Dharamgarh in January 2024.
The Odisha Vigilance Department has stated that further investigations are underway, and additional searches at the officer’s premises may continue. This case adds to the growing list of corruption cases registered by the Odisha Vigilance Department, which has already arrested 179 government officials and private individuals in 2024 alone.
