Arrested IAS officer Dhiman Chakma gets bail

Bhubaneswar: In a major relief for arrested IAS officer Dhiman Chakma, the Orissa High Court today granted him conditional bail in a Vigilance bribery case.

The Orissa High Court granted conditional bail to Chakma on a bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties. The Bhawanipatna District Vigilance Court had earlier rejected his bail application, following which the 2021 batch IAS officer had moved the High Court for the same.

Dhiman Chakma, the Sub-Collector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district, was arrested by the vigilance on June 9 after being nabbed while taking bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a businessman at his government residence.

Later, the Vigilance officials had conducted a raid and subsequently seized Rs 47,47,600 from Chakma’s official residence in Dharmagarh. Currently, he is in Bhawanipatna jail. He was suspended from his service after his arrest.

Dhiman Chakma had joined the Odisha cadre as an Indian Forest Service officer after clearing the exam in 2019. His first posting after training was as Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) in Baripada of Mayurbhanj. He was there till June, 2021 but after clearing the civil services exam, he was appointed as IAS officer and assigned Odisha cadre. After training, he was posted as Dharmagarh Sub-Collector since January, 2024.