Archive · 22 Aug 2026
Odisha Vigilance Intercepts Tahsildar, Arrests Health Official in Bribery Cases
Odisha Vigilance officials took action in two separate cases on Thursday.
In the first case, they stopped a government officer named Muralidhar Urmal.
They found Rs 5 lakh with him, and officials said he could not explain the money satisfactorily.
Searches were then conducted at three places connected to him.
In the second case, officials accused Manoj Ranjan Nayak of asking an ASHA health worker for Rs 20,000.
The worker said he threatened to end her job early because two documents showed different birth dates.
Vigilance officers set a trap and allegedly caught Nayak accepting the money.
Both cases involved further searches and official investigations.
Odisha Vigilance intercepted Lathikata Tahasildar-cum-Sub Registrar Muralidhar Urmal with Rs 5 lakh in suspected illicit cash.
Urmal was stopped near Rajabasa Chhak while travelling from his office toward his residence in Rourkela.
Searches followed at Urmal’s residence, ancestral home and Lathikata Tahasil office; he was detained for questioning.
Vigilance arrested Kujang CHC Block Programme Manager Manoj Ranjan Nayak for allegedly accepting a Rs 20,000 bribe.
Nayak allegedly threatened an ASHA worker with early retirement over conflicting dates of birth on her documents.
- Who
- Odisha Vigilance officials, Tahasildar-cum-Sub Registrar Muralidhar Urmal, and Kujang CHC Block Programme Manager Manoj Ranjan Nayak.
- What
- Officials intercepted Urmal with Rs 5 lakh in suspected illicit cash and arrested Nayak while he allegedly accepted a Rs 20,000 bribe.
- When
- Thursday, as reported in the articles.
- Where
- Urmal was intercepted near Rajabasa Chhak in Lathikata, Sundargarh district; Nayak was caught in connection with Kujang Community Health Centre in Jagatsinghpur district.
- Why
- Vigilance acted on information about suspected cash collection by Urmal and on a complaint alleging that Nayak demanded money over an ASHA worker’s retirement date.
- Urmal’s position
- Tahasildar-cum-Sub Registrar of Lathikata in Sundargarh district
- Cash seized from Urmal
- Rs 5 lakh
- Urmal interception point
- Near Rajabasa Chhak, Lathikata
- Nayak’s position
- Block Programme Manager at Kujang Community Health Centre
- Bribe amount
- Rs 20,000
- Nayak’s alleged threat
- Preponing or terminating an ASHA worker’s service over conflicting birth dates
- Search locations
- Officials searched residences and offices linked to both accused officials