A day after being caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹10 lakh, young IAS officer Dhiman Chakma was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a court in Odisha on Monday. Chakma, who served as the Sub-Collector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district, was arrested by a team from Odisha Vigilance on June 8, 2025.
According to M Radhakrishna, SP (Vigilance), the accused officer was produced before the Special Vigilance Court in Bhawanipatna, which denied his bail and sent him to judicial custody. Vigilance officials later conducted searches at his government residence and office, recovering ₹47 lakh in cash from his quarters, for which Chakma failed to provide a satisfactory explanation.
The scandal unraveled after a local businessman reported that Chakma had threatened to take action against him unless he paid a bribe of ₹20 lakh. Acting on the complaint, vigilance officials laid a trap and nabbed the officer while he was accepting ₹10 lakh in cash.
Chakma was booked under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. He originally joined the Odisha cadre as an Indian Forest Service officer (2019 batch) and served as Additional Chief Conservator at Baripada. After clearing the Civil Services Exam in 2021, he was appointed as an IAS officer, joining as Sub-Collector, Dharmagarh, in January 2024.
The arrest has raised serious concerns over corruption in the civil services, especially involving young officers.
