Former Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Subodh Agarwal (IAS:1988:RJ) has finally been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with the Rs 900 crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam in the state.
An arrest warrant had earlier been issued against Agarwal in the scam, and a Look-Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him on February 18 as he remained on the run. But the ACB team finally arrested him in Delhi and brought him to Jaipur on Thursday, where he was questioned at the ACB headquarters.
The JJM was the Central Government’s scheme, launched in 2019, to facilitate piped drinking water to every rural household by providing functional tap connections in these households. The investigation revealed forged billing, financial irregularities, and serious procedural violations in the tendering process.
Agarwal was serving as an Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) in the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) when the alleged scam took place. The ACB alleged that Agrawal and others had submitted false completion certificates worth nearly Rs 960 crore, which allegedly led to the embezzlement of funds with the involvement of contractors, senior engineers, and other public officials.
The investigation was initiated in 2024, following which nine officials of the PHED had already been arrested in the case.
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