ACB raids 100 places in hunt for ex-IAS officer in JJM case

Jaipur: In the ongoing Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) corruption investigation, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has ramped up efforts to locate Subodh Agarwal, a retired IAS officer who has been evading authorities for several weeks. Since the investigation escalated on Feb 17, the ACB has executed a series of search operations that have involved questioning nearly 50 individuals and launching multiple raids across 21 cities in various states.The ACB's operation, which mobilised nearly 40 teams led by senior officials, has spanned an array of locations, including Jaipur, Udaipur, Barmer, Jodhpur, Jhalawar, Kota, and Nagaur, among others. Additionally, searches have reached as far as New Delhi, Chandigarh, and several urban areas in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, such as Faridabad, Noida, and Meerut. Specifics of the searches reveal a concerted effort to uncover Agarwal's hideouts and connections. In Delhi, investigations focused on affluent neighborhoods like New Moti Bagh and Defence Colony, while in Haryana, ACB scrutinised properties in Sector 39 and a farmhouse in Sohna. Searches in Jaipur were equally extensive, targeting residential areas and properties in C-Scheme, Nirman Nagar, and Bajaj Nagar Extension, as well as various farmhouses in nearby locales. As part of their inquiry, ACB officials have conducted interviews with relatives, friends, domestic staff, and drivers of Agarwal, suspected of harboring the former bureaucrat. As they sift through evidence, investigators are also assessing CCTV footage from five cities to track the movements of Agarwal and potential accomplices.