Jaipur: Former IAS officer Subodh Agarwal, who had been absconding in connection with the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam in Rajasthan, has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), officials said on Thursday.
The ACB team brought Agarwal from Delhi to Jaipur, where he was questioned at the ACB headquarters by Deputy Inspector General of Police Om Prakash Meena.
An arrest warrant had earlier been issued against Agarwal in the JJM scam.
In the same case, nine officials of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) had already been arrested.
ACB Director General Govind Gupta said that the investigation, initiated in 2024, has so far led to the arrest of 11 accused persons, while three others are still absconding.
With Agarwal’s arrest, a key development has been achieved in the ongoing probe.
According to the ACB, serious irregularities were found in the JJM tendering process.
Several firms, including Ganpati Tubewell and Shyam Tubewell, allegedly secured contracts by submitting forged certificates.
Despite being aware of these discrepancies, officials failed to take action.
As a result, tenders worth nearly Rs 900 crore were awarded to benefit select firms.
In addition, mandatory site inspections for projects exceeding Rs 50 crore were reportedly not conducted, indicating a clear misuse of official position.
On February 17, the ACB carried out a major crackdown in the case, conducting raids at 15 locations across Rajasthan such as Jaipur, Barmer, Jalore, Sikar, as well as in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Delhi.
The investigation revealed forged billing, financial irregularities, and serious procedural violations in the tendering process.
A raid was also conducted at Agarwal’s residence the same day, during which nine PHED officials were arrested.
A Look-Out Circular (LOC) was issued against Agarwal on February 18 as he remained on the run until his arrest.
Agarwal is a retired IAS officer, who was serving as an Additional Chief Secretary in the PHED when the alleged scam happened during the previous Congress government’s tenure in Rajasthan.
According to the ACB, Agrawal and others had submitted false completion certificates worth nearly Rs 960 crore to receive the Jal Jeevan Mission contracts, which allegedly led to the embezzlement of funds worth crores of rupees involving contractors, senior engineers and other public officials.
According to ACB, Agarwal evaded authorities for many weeks as the probe escalated.
In February 2026, the ACB arrested nine persons, including senior engineers and retired officials, in connection with the alleged scam.
The Central government had launched the JJM scheme in 2019 to facilitate piped drinking water to every rural household by providing functional tap connections in these households.
(IANS)
