Bharuch, Gujarat: The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday caught two officials of the Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹40,000 for processing a new wholesale drug licence.
The accused have been identified as Prakashbhai Nanakram Posnani (also referred to as Prakash Posnani), 54, Assistant Commissioner (Class-1) of the Food and Drugs Department in Bharuch, and Surbhiben Desai (also Surbhi Desai or Surabhiben Desai, daughter of Mohanlal Desai), 29, Drugs Inspector (Class-2) with the same department. Both were posted at the FDCA office in Bharuch.
According to ACB accounts corroborated across multiple reports, a complainant (described in one account as a vigilant citizen or trader) had applied for a new wholesale drug licence at the Assistant Commissioner’s office of the Food and Drugs Control Administration in Bharuch. During the processing of the application, Surbhiben Desai allegedly informed the applicant that the licence procedure would be completed but that a sum of ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 would have to be paid to the senior official.
Unwilling to pay the demanded amount, the complainant approached the Narmada ACB Police Station and lodged a formal complaint. Based on the complaint, the ACB laid a trap on August 18, 2026, at the Assistant Commissioner’s chamber in the Food and Drugs Department office in Bharuch.
During the operation, the two officials allegedly accepted ₹40,000 from the complainant. The ACB team immediately intervened, recovered the entire bribe amount on the spot, and arrested both officials. The trap was executed by Police Inspector D.D. Vasava of the Narmada ACB Police Station, with involvement from the ACB Vadodara unit under Assistant Director B.M. Patel, and overall leadership by Deputy Director Baldev Desai of ACB Vadodara, as detailed in reports drawing from official information.
The ACB has alleged that the accused, as public servants, misused their official positions and engaged in criminal misconduct by demanding and accepting the bribe. An offence has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and further legal proceedings are underway. Both officials have been detained for investigation.
