Bhubaneswar, Dec 18 : The Odisha Vigilance on Thursday arrested a woman police officer after she was caught red-handed while allegedly taking a bribe to facilitate bail for an accused in a criminal case.

The officer has been identified as Sukma Hansdah, who is posted as the Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of Dasmantpur Police Station in Koraput district.

According to Vigilance sources, Hansdah was apprehended by anti-corruption sleuths while demanding a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a relative of an accused in exchange for submitting the case diary before the court.

The accused is reportedly involved in a womenâ??s atrocity case that was earlier registered at Dasmantpur Police Station, of which IIC Hansdah herself was the investigating officer.

Sources revealed that the accused in the case had already been lodged in judicial custody, and the court had formally called for the case diary to proceed with the hearing. It was alleged that Hansdah insisted on payment of the bribe for producing the case diary in court, an act that would help the accused secure bail.

Following repeated demands, a relative of the accused approached the Odisha Vigilance authorities and lodged a complaint detailing the alleged bribery demand.

â??Based on the above complaint, a trap was laid on Thursday, wherein the accused Sukma Hansdah, IIC, was nabbed by the team of Odisha Vigilance inside Dasmantpur Police Station premises for demanding undue advantage of Rs 20,000 from a relative of the accused.

The entire bribe money was recovered and seized from the possession of Hansdah in the presence of witnesses,â?? informed a senior Vigilance official.

After the successful trap operation, Vigilance teams conducted simultaneous searches at Hansdahâ??s residential government quarters at Dasmantpur as well as her office chamber. Relevant documents and materials were examined as part of the ongoing investigation.

Following the trap, Hansdah was produced before the court and later remanded to judicial custody.

/IANS