The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Subodh Agarwal, in connection with over Rs 960-crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam in Rajasthan.
The ACB arrested Agarwal in Delhi after he reportedly surrendered before a local court there. He was later brought to the ACB headquarters here by a team of bureau sleuths, an official spokesman said this evening. Currently, the accused ex-bureaucrat is being interrogated by bureau officials. He would be produced before the trial (special) court within a stipulated period of 24 hours.
Agarwal was on the run for some time and despite searches in different cities, the cops failed to trace him.
With this, at least 10 officers and retired officials have been arrested in the scam. Representatives of private firms too were arrested but some of them were later released on bail.
Ex-PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi was also arrested in this connection and remained in jail for more than 6 months until he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in December last.
Meanwhile, the ACB special court has issued standing warrants against three co-accused including ex- Superintending Engineer Mukesh Goyal.
The ACB was also contemplating action for confiscation of properties – assets of the accused ones.
The cases were registered by the ACB in 2024 following a prolonged investigation into the alleged scam, which involved irregularities such as forged billing, approval of tenders in an irregular manner, and the awarding of works on the basis of forged certificates and documents.
Irregularities in works worth more than Rs 960 crore have been detected in the scam, ACB sources said.