New Delhi: In a major crackdown on alleged corruption within the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has arrested former Delhi Water Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain, along with senior IAS officer Udit Prakash Rai, in connection with a sewage treatment plant tender scam.
The ACB apprehended a total of six individuals, including Jain, who has previously faced arrest in a separate money laundering investigation. Alongside Jain and Rai—who formerly served as the DJB CEO—the arrested individuals include Ankit Srivastava (former contractual consultant, DJB), Nagendra Yadav (proprietor, AN Enterprises), Raja Kumar Kurra (owner, Euroteck Environment Pvt. Ltd.), and Pankaj Verma (proprietor, Shreejanhar).
The arrests stem from a First Information Report (FIR No. 10/2024) filed on May 11, 2024, which invoked sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act alongside charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy.
According to the investigating agency, the massive irregularity revolves around a tender issued for the upgradation and capacity augmentation of DJB sewage treatment plants. Investigators allege that the technical conditions of the tender were deliberately altered to heavily favor a specific private firm, Euroteck Environment Pvt. Ltd. The ACB stated that restrictive conditions were inserted without conducting a mandatory pilot study, strategically eliminating market competition and causing severe financial losses to the public exchequer.
The alleged collusion was exposed through a digital trail. The ACB recovered crucial electronic evidence, including emails and messages exchanged among private individuals, middlemen, and government officials. An analysis of these communications revealed that confidential tender documents and corrigendums were shared with the favored companies well before they were officially published as part of the government tender.
Furthermore, the investigating agency has tracked an alleged money trail pointing directly to bribery. The ACB claims that approximately Rs 1.52 crore was transferred into the bank accounts of then-CEO Udit Prakash Rai and his relatives through AN Enterprises. This sum was allegedly routed through entities linked to Euroteck and subsequently utilized to purchase real estate. The ACB is currently probing the complete money trail to uncover the full extent of the financial irregularities.
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