CHENNAI: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) sleuths on Monday arrested a joint director at the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department office, Anna Salai, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000.

The arrested officer was identified as Karthikeyan.

Saravanan, owner of Our Green India Soap Factory in Gudiyatham, Vellore, had applied for approval to manufacture naturally produced soaps.

Karthikeyan demanded Rs 1,00,000 bribe to process the application, later reducing the amount to Rs 25,000 as an “advance”. He reportedly stated that the file would only move forward after receiving this initial payment.

Saravanan approached the DVAC's Chennai office and a trap was laid.

Karthikeyan was caught red-handed accepting Rs 25,000 from the complainant at the Anna Salai office earlier on Monday.