The payment was due for the under-construction district collectorate building in the newly-created Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Lokayukta Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) S L Kataria told reporters that contractor Girish Gupta had complained about a demand of Rs three lakh bribe being made by PWD sub-engineer Dilip Mahajan, but it was settled at Rs two lakh for clearing the pending payment of Rs 30 lakh.
However, Mahajan was caught today while accepting Rs two lakh from Gupta, police said.
A case has been registered in this regard and further investigations are on, they added.