Former IAS officer Subhodh Aggarwal, who was absconding in Rajasthan’s famous ₹900 crore Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam, has been arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB). According to officials, Aggarwal was taken into custody from Delhi and brought to Jaipur, where he was interrogated by DIG Om Prakash Meena at the ACB headquarters.
An arrest warrant had already been issued against him in this case. He absconded during the investigation, after which the ACB also issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against him. ACB Director General Govind Gupta said that so far 11 accused have been arrested in the investigation that started in 2024, while three others are still absconding. Earlier, nine officials of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) were also arrested.
The investigation revealed that there were serious irregularities in the tender process. Several private companies, such as Ganpati Tubewell and Shyam Tubewell, allegedly obtained contracts by submitting fake certificates. According to the ACB, despite officials being aware of these irregularities, no action was taken, due to which tenders worth about ₹900 crore were awarded to selected companies.
The investigation also revealed that mandatory site inspection was not conducted in projects worth more than ₹50 crore, which is a violation of rules. This is being considered as a clear case of abuse of position.
On February 17, ACB took major action in this case and raided 15 places in Rajasthan including Jaipur, Barmer, Jalore, Sikar, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi. Meanwhile, Agarwal’s residence was also raided and nine PHED officials were arrested. The investigation has revealed fake billing, financial irregularities and serious violations in the tender process.
According to the ACB, Aggarwal and other accused obtained Jal Jeevan Mission contracts by submitting fake completion certificates worth about ₹960 crore. This has brought to light a big case of misuse of government funds.
Jal Jeevan Mission is the flagship scheme of the Central Government, which was launched in 2019. Its objective is to provide clean drinking water through tap to every rural household. ACB says that the arrest of Aggarwal is an important progress in this case and further investigation may reveal more big revelations. At present the agencies are busy investigating the entire network related to the scam and the search for the absconding accused is going on.
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