The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) caught Udayapur District Survey chief red-handed with Rs 50,000 bribe on Thursday.

A CIAA team from Itahari arrested Shyam Babu Prasad Sah with the bribe money from his residence.

Sah had asked Rs200,000 from a service seeker of Gaighat to make changes in the topographic map of land. According to CIAA Itahari chief Pradeep Kumar Koirala, Sah was arrested while he was taking Rs50,000 in advance at around 8am. Sah and the service seeker had reached an agreement to receive the remaining amount after completing the work. Sah is said to have asked Rs500,000 to make changes in the map.

The service seeker had reached the Survey Office after Sah asked for a huge amount.

Though the office had promised the service seeker to make changes in the map, Sah had delayed the work saying that he would not complete it until he is paid. Sah, however, maintained that he had not taken any money. “I was performing Puja. The service seeker entered the room without informing me and kept the money on my bed,” he said. The service seeker, however, claimed that Sah had asked him to deliver the amount at his residence.