India, Feb. 14 -- Why was FDA minister Narhari Zirwal blindsided by the ACB trap in his office on Thursday? The operation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ABC), which caught a clerk in Zirwal's office accepting a bribe from a chemist, had been cleared at the highest levels in the state home department a week earlier. And yet Zirwal had no inkling that the raid was imminent.

The NCP minister has flatly denied any wrongdoing. The opposition has demanded his removal from the state cabinet. Zirwal says he will step down "if any link is proved".

On Thursday, the ACB caught Rajendra Dherange, the clerk in Zirwal's office in the state secretariat, accepting a bribe of Rs.35,000 from a chemist, to revoke the suspension of his licence. Dherange, w...