The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday said it has caught a woman official of the Maharashtra Directorate of Archaeology and Museums while taking a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh in Nashik, and registered a case against the department's director "for showing his consent to accept his share of the bribe".

In a statement, the ACB said it nabbed the directorate's assistant director Aarti Mrunal Aale, a resident of Nashik, taking the bribe amount on May 7, and filed a case against the department's director Tejas Madan Garge, who resides in Mumbai and is now absconding.

The complainant in the case, a 32-year-old man from Nashik wanted a 'no objection certificate' (NOC) from the archaeology department to start a factory. He had submitted an application for it and on May 6, assistant director Aale demanded a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from him. However, the applicant lodged a complaint with the anti-graft agency, it said.

Accordingly, ACB sleuths laid a trap and caught Aale while accepting the Rs 1.5 lakh bribe amount from the complainant at her home in Nashik on May 7.

Aale is currently on maternity leave, the ACB sources said.

Aale later told the ACB authorities that she had asked Garge about handing over his share of the amount and in response, the latter gave his consent to accept his share, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the ACB authorities have informed their counterparts in Mumbai about Garge's alleged involvement and the agency has launched a search for him as he is absconding.

Police have registered a case against the duo at the Indiranagar police station in Nashik and further investigation is on.