AHMEDABAD: An officer of anti-corruption bureau (ACB), who was caught taking a bribe of Rs 18 lakh on December 24, has been maintaining that he wanted only 'prasad' but the complainant gave him the bribe. The complainant is a retired member-secretary of the Gujarat Gausewa and Gauchar Vikas Board.

The accused D D Chavda, a 2004-batch PI who was posted at Junagadh ACB unit had been working in the department for three years.

He was caught while accepting the bribe at Sanathal Crossroads in Ahmedabad in the evening of December 24.

This was the first case in the recent past when an ACB official was caught taking bribe by his own department officials. Chavda had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from the retired Gausewa officer while threatening to book him in a case of alleged irregularity of disbursing a Rs 10.16 lakh grant.

The grant was meant for gauchar development in Patla village in Maliya Hatina taluka of Jamnagar district. Chavda was probing that case.

"During his interrogation, Chavda told ACB officials that he had only asked for 'prasad' of a religious sect as he was a very religious person. But the complainant had put the money in the box to frame him," said an ACB official.

When asked why he had accepted the money, Chavda maintained that he was unaware that the box had contained money, said an ACB official claiming that Chavda knows well how to dodge questions in corruption cases, as he had interrogated several persons earlier in such offences.

Apart from this, Chavda's only answer to his interrogators was, "I do not remember." When asked about his bank account details, he said that he had only three accounts which could have nearly Rs 14 lakh in them. But when asked about his locker's details, Chavda told ACB officials, "I am least concerned about money, so I do not even remember my bank locker details."

ACB officials will on Monday get details of Chavda's bank account and locker details to get more evidence in the case.