Once celebrated as a role model for aspirants, Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) topper of 2019, Aswini Kumar Panda, has been arrested by the Vigilance Department for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹15,000.
Panda, currently posted as Tehsildar of Bamra block in Sambalpur district, was caught red-handed during a trap operation after a complainant reported that he had demanded money for approving land mutation and conversion from agricultural to homestead use.
According to officials, Panda initially demanded ₹20,000, later lowering it to ₹15,000 after negotiations. When the complainant refused to pay and approached Vigilance, a team laid a trap on September 12, 2025. Panda was nabbed inside his office while taking the bribe through his office driver, P. Praveen Kumar.
During searches at his office and residences in Bamra and Bhubaneswar, officials recovered ₹4.73 lakh in cash.
A native of Jajpur district, Panda had topped the OAS exam in 2019 and joined the state services as a Training Reserve Officer in Balasore Collectorate before being appointed as Tehsildar in Mayurbhanj and later in Sambalpur.
His arrest marks a dramatic fall from grace for someone once hailed as an inspiration for civil service aspirants in Odisha.
