New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday arrested a project manager of WAPCOS Limited in connection with an alleged ₹10 lakh bribery transaction, officials said.

According to the agency, the arrest followed a complaint alleging that the official had demanded illegal gratification in connection with official work linked to a project under execution. After conducting preliminary verification, the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureau laid a trap, during which the accused was apprehended. Certain private individuals were also taken into custody in connection with the case.

The agency said searches were conducted at multiple locations in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, including Lucknow, Deoria, Ghazipur and Bhubaneswar. Cash and documents were recovered during the searches, officials said, adding that the material seized is being examined.

The accused has been booked under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He will be produced before a competent court. The allegations are under investigation, and the accused is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The arrest has drawn attention within public sector consultancy circles, where officials familiar with procurement procedures pointed out that high-value tenders in central public sector enterprises typically pass through multiple layers of technical and financial scrutiny at the headquarters level. It remains unclear whether investigators will examine the broader approval process in the present case.

WAPCOS, a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, provides consultancy services in water resources, power and infrastructure sectors in India and abroad. Attempts to obtain an official response from the organisation on the arrest and its internal tender approval protocols were not successful till the time of publication.

CBI officials said further investigation is underway to ascertain the full extent of the alleged transaction, including examination of documents, communication records and financial trails.