Rao was arrested along with his purported middleman SB Subba Rao when they were allegedly accepting Rs five lakh as first installment from the owner of the engineering college.

Giving details, the spokesperson said the agency registered a case on the basis of the complaint from the owner of the engineering college.

A middleman had asked him for a bribe of Rs 20 lakh on behalf of Member-Secretary of AICTE for inspection and approval of his college, the spokesman claimed and added the owner of the college had agreed to pay Rs five lakh as the first installment.

Based on the complaint, "a trap was laid early morning after observing all legal formalities and during the proceedings, the middleman and the member-secretary were arrested," the spokesperson said.

Searches were conducted at Rao's residence in Nivedita

Kunj in South Delhi and in Hyderabad and that of the alleged

middleman at Ongole, Andhra Pardesh, he said.

During the searches, Rs nine lakh in cash were recovered

from the residence of the member-secretary of AICTE and

documents relating to bank accounts and properties were

being scrutinised, the spokesperson said.