Nuapada: Vigilance sleuths on Saturday night caught Khariar divisional forest officer (DFO) Laxmikanta Mishra while accepting a bribe of Rs 2.20 lakh from a junior forest officer for clearing the bill for construction of quarters and Kendu leaf godown in Lakhna range of Khariar division.

The accused was produced in a Bhawanipatna court on Sunday.

The vigilance officials also raided his official residence at Khariar and found cash worth Rs 8.50 lakh. Raids were also carried out at his Baripada and Bhubaneswar residences on Sunday.

Vigilance sources said the accused DFO had been demanding Rs 2.20 lakh as percentage commission from the Lakhna range officer Parshuram Putel for clearing a bill of Rs 13 lakh for a government project to construct quarters and a kendu leaf godown.

Putel complained to vigilance officials in Nuapada, who with the help of their counterparts Bhawanipatna, set up the trap to catch him.

Bhawanipatna's district superintendent police, vigilance, Satyaban Mahanand said the forest range officer of Lakhna had lodged a complaint against the DFO.