The present work describes ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) initiated graft copolymerization of acrylamide onto cellulose-based filter paper followed by entrapment of silver nanoparticles. The copolymerization was carried out in aqueous solution, containing 2M acrylamide monomer and 16mM N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide (MB) crosslinker. The optimum initiation time and grafting reaction temperature were found to be 15min and 30 degrees C, respectively. The silver nanoparticles were loaded into grafted filter paper by equilibration in silver nitrate solution followed by citrate reduction. The formation of silver nanoparticles has been confirmed by TEM and SAED analysis. The novel nano silver loaded filter paper has been investigated for its antimicrobial properties against E.coli. This newly developed material shows strong antibacterial property and thus offers its candidature for possible use as antibacterial food-packaging material.