Formula E race case: Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar appears before ACB

Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, was incharge of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department in 2023

By Newsmeter Network  Published on  8 Jan 2025 2:54 PM IST
Formula E race case: Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar appears before ACB

Senior IAS Arvind Kumar (File Photo)

Hyderabad: Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, one of the accused in the FIR registered in Formula E race issue, appeared before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) here on Wednesday.

The ACB had earlier summoned Arvind Kumar for questioning in connection with the alleged irregularities in conducting the Formula-E race, and accordingly he reached the agency's headquarters.

The ACB in December 2024 registered a case against BRS Working President and MLA KT Rama Rao, who was Municipal Administration Minister in the previous BRS regime, over alleged payments, most of it in foreign currency without approvals, to conduct the race in 2023 during the previous regime.

Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, was incharge of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department in 2023. He has been named as A-2 in the FIR in which Rama Rao, is the prime accused. Another retired bureaucrat BLN Reddy was named accused no 3.

The case was registered by ACB under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC dealing with criminal misappropriation, criminal misconduct, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy that allegedly resulted in loss to the government exchequer to the tune of about Rs 55 crore.

Though the race was supposed to be held in February 2024 as well, it was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.

HMDA former chief engineer BLN Reddy appears before ED

Meanwhile, former chief engineer of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), BLN Reddy, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Formula E race case.

Reddy and Arvind Kumar were earlier summoned by the ED on January 2 and 3. Following their request, the ED gave time and issued fresh notices to them, asking to appear on January 8 and 9.

Earlier, the ACB booked against BRS working president KTR as an accused based on a complaint by Principal Secretary M Dana Kishore.

The complaint alleges anomalies in HMDA payments exceeding Rs 54.88 crore to Formula-E Operations Limited (FEO) and connected businesses without adhering to established financial processes.

The ED had also filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) about the alleged financial irregularities in the Formula E race arrangement.

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