The Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) sleuths on Wednesday caught a clerk at Rohtas district civil surgeon office in Bihar red-handed while accepting a Rs 55,000 bribe for a pathology lab licence.

A raiding team of the VIB arrested the clerk, Santosh Kumar, from the roadside in front of a Durga temple in Sasaram city, which happens to be the district headquarters.

“One Baban Singh of Tumba village in the district had complained to us on July 11 about the clerk at the civil surgeon office demanding money to provide a licence for starting a pathology lab,” a senior VIB official said.

The sleuths verified the complaint through various technical measures and found it to be true.

Accordingly, an FIR was registered at the vigilance police station in Patna and a raiding team led by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Pawan Kumar was sent to nab the clerk.

VIB officials said that Santosh was being questioned and will be produced before the special vigilance court in the state capital later on.