The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday accused the Andhra Pradesh government of leaking secret information about a planned operation to trap a few government employees suspected of corruption, PTI reported. The state government passed on the details to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which managed to arrest just one person, while several others escaped, the agency alleged.

The CBI had planned the “trap operation” after receiving information that one of the suspected officials was seeking a bribe from a businessman, agency spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said. The agency sought consent of the state government to conduct the operation, and requested for secrecy of the information, Dayal said. However, the state government shared the information with its Anti-Corruption Bureau, he said.

The agency had sought permission for the operation as the state government had withdrawn the “general consent” provided to the CBI to carry out searches in the state earlier this month. This had effectively banned the agency from exercising its authority in the state.

In its letter to the state home department officials, the investigating agency also urged them to expedite the issuance of the consent, said Dayal. “However, the Andhra Pradesh government did not issue the specific consent as requested by the CBI, instead the details were shared by the home department with the state ACB and the state ACB laid a trap on November 30 in the evening against the central government public servant by using the contents of the above request letter,” Dayal claimed.

“The operation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau resulted in the arrest of only one suspect whereas several others under the scanner managed to escape possible arrest,” an unidentified CBI official told PTI. Such non-cooperation will make it tougher for anti-corruption agencies to bring the accused to justice, Dayal said.

The arrested official was identified as Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Superintendent MK Ramaneswar, The News Minute reported. The owner of a company in the state’s Machilipatnam district accused Ramaneswar of demanding a bribe of Rs 35,000 for not raising objections in the Central Goods and Services Tax returns filed by his firm.

Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police RP Thakur claimed the CBI had requested the home secretary to pass on the information to the Anti-Corruption Bureau if the “general consent” was not provided.

Telugu Desam Party leader Lanka Dinakar asked why CBI officials were “raising a hue and cry” when Ramaneswar’s arrest had been made possible by the cooperation between the CBI and the Anti-Corruption Bureau, ANI reported.