Bhubaneswar: Vigilance officials on Monday arrested a state revenue service officer for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a landowner to facilitate the release of compensation for land acquired for a railway project. The accused, Ajay Kumar Garanaik (56), was serving as land acquisition officer for Sambalpur-Talcher rail line doubling project.According to vigilance officials, Garanaik allegedly demanded Rs 5.10 lakh from the complainant for releasing Rs 84.62 lakh sanctioned as compensation for land acquired in Angul district for the railway project.“Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused collected Rs 2 lakh from the complainant on Oct 27 and was repeatedly pressuring him to pay the remaining amount at the earliest,” a vigilance officer said.Official sources said Garanaik sought to exploit the landowner’s concerns over future compensation claims arising from another parcel of land likely to be acquired for a proposed third railway line project.“The accused projected himself as instrumental in securing the compensation amount and demanded commission for it. He also threatened to create obstacles in the complainant’s future compensation cases if the balance bribe was not paid,” the officer said.Unable to withstand the alleged demands and intimidation, the landowner approached Odisha vigilance a few days ago, prompting the agency to lay a trap. A vigilance team arrested Garanaik while he was allegedly accepting the remaining Rs 3.10 lakh from the complainant at an isolated place in Angul district on Monday afternoon. The bribe money was recovered from his possession and seized in the presence of witnesses, officials said.“Simultaneous searches are being carried out at properties linked to the accused to ascertain whether he possesses assets disproportionate to his known sources of income,” another vigilance official said.