Chandigarh: In a major enforcement action targetting infrastructural irregularities, the Economic Offences Wing of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday arrested K. D. Chaudhary, the former Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited. Alongside the former utility chief, investigators detained Sanjeev Prabhakar, a retired Deputy Chief Engineer who served as a Sub-Divisional Officer during the period in question, and Amit Garg, a private real estate developer based in Ludhiana.
The coordinated early morning operations were executed at the residences of the suspects in Ludhiana, concluding a multi-year financial investigation initiated in 2021. The case centers on structural and financial irregularities committed during the Shiromani Akali Dal government tenure, specifically regarding the installation of a 66 KV power sub-station inside the Basant City private housing colony in Ludhiana.
According to state investigators, the accused power utility officials knowingly bypassed mandatory departmental guidelines to provide massive financial favors to the private builder. Under established state regulatory frameworks, the entire capital expenditure for setting up dedicated electricity sub-stations within private residential colonies must be funded exclusively by the private developer. However, the Vigilance Bureau alleges that Prabhakar and Chaudhary colluded with Garg to misappropriate state exchequer funds to cover the installation costs, resulting in major financial losses to the government.
The Bureau has registered First Information Report Number 6/26 at the Economic Offences Wing police station in Ludhiana under Sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, in conjunction with Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Vigilance officials confirmed that the suspects will be produced before a local court to secure custodial remand for deeper interrogation.
