Kolkata: A senior Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer, who was probing Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Prize medallion theft, was arrested Sunday by the agency's anti-corruption branch for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs.50,000 from an accused in a murder case, officials said.

CBI special superintendent of police (crime branch) Partha Sarathi Basu was nabbed from near an electronics shop at Ultadanga in the north-eastern part of the city by the sleuths who had laid a trap after receiving a tip-off. Avtar Singh, who owned a garage at Bhowanipore in the southern part of the city, lodged a complaint with the CBI Saturday that Basu had demanded money for releasing him from the murder case.

A team from the agency's anti-corruption branch, New Delhi, came to the city Sunday morning and caught Basu while accepting Rs.50,000 from Avtar, said CBI officials. The case dates back to Sep 12,2006,when an officer of the Department of Revenue Intelligence was allegedly murdered because he intercepted a truck carrying contraband worth Rs.42.2 million at Krishnapur in Guwahati.

On investigation it was found that the truck belonged to Pakhi Mian, who was arrested but later fled from jail, the officials said. The sleuths also found alleged links between Avtar and another prime accused, Munna Musalman. Avtar Singh was arrested and later freed on bail.