LUDHIANA, MAY 20 — A long-standing anti-corruption investigation culminated on Wednesday with the arrest of three individuals, including the former top executive of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, over the illicit diversion of 10 crore rupees in government capital.
Those arrested by the Economic Offences Wing include former PSPCL Chairman and Managing Director KD Chaudhry, retired engineer Sanjeev Prabhakar, and private housing developer Amit Garg. According to the formal complaint, the state power executives manipulated administrative procedures to install a 66 KV electrical sub-station within Garg’s private residential project, Basant City, utilizing state utility resources.
State broadsheets and regulatory filings indicate that real estate guidelines strictly mandate private developers to self-fund and construct internal electrical sub-stations before selling properties.
“The three were arrested after a vigilance inquiry found that they had connived and installed a 66 KV sub-station by using Rs 10 crore of government funds in the private housing colony against the rules,” an official statement from the enforcement wing noted.
The Vigilance Bureau’s formal probe into the transaction began five years ago in 2021, resulting in the registration of a First Information Report earlier this year. The evidence gathered during the multi-year inquiry established a clear pattern of collusion, proving that the utility executives knowingly shielded the developer from mandatory infrastructure costs at the expense of the taxpayer.
