Three days after the arrest of CREST project director Sukhwinder Singh Abrol in the ₹83-crore fraud case, the Chandigarh Police on Wednesday arrested an accountant, Sahil Kukkar, as the probe into the alleged siphoning of funds gained pace.
A resident of Sector 78, Mohali, and originally hailing from Fazilka, Punjab, Kukkar joined the investigation on Tuesday. But during interrogation, he failed to clarify or justify multiple transactions amounting to crores that were funnelled into shell firms in connivance with Abrol, leading to his arrest.
Kukkar was produced before a local court and remanded to three-day police custody. Abrol, who was arrested on March 30, remains in five-day police remand.
Investigators said Kukkar acted in connivance with Abrol, bank officials and others in diverting funds from CREST accounts into shell companies. He allegedly received a commission of ₹10 lakh per transaction in cash for facilitating the transfers.
The case pertains to alleged financial irregularities in bank accounts of the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST) maintained at IDFC First Bank, Sector 32. The probe was initiated following a complaint by the society’s chief executive officer, who flagged suspicious and unauthorised transactions.
During reconciliation of records with original bank statements, 272 unauthorised transactions were identified in one CREST account and 31 in another, with a total shortfall pegged at ₹75.16 crore. The interest impact on the principal amount has been estimated at ₹7.88 crore as of February 23, 2026, taking the total embezzled amount to ₹83 crore.
{{/usCountry}}During reconciliation of records with original bank statements, 272 unauthorised transactions were identified in one CREST account and 31 in another, with a total shortfall pegged at ₹75.16 crore. The interest impact on the principal amount has been estimated at ₹7.88 crore as of February 23, 2026, taking the total embezzled amount to ₹83 crore.
{{/usCountry}}Police said Kukkar’s role emerged during the ongoing investigation into the network of shell firms allegedly used to route ₹10.33 crore of the pilfered funds into the private bank accounts of Abrol and his family members.
These firms — including CAPCO Fintech, RS Traders and Swastik Desh Project — were purportedly created in collusion with Nalini Malik, CAO, Chandigarh Smart City Limited (CSCL); Narender Pal Sharma, chief executive manager of CSCL, and Sukhwinder Abrol of CREST.
The siphoned money was allegedly channelled into real estate investments and withdrawn in cash through various entities, including jewellery firms.
So far, apart from Kukkar, five persons — including Abrol, realtor Vikram Wadhwa, bank officials Ribhav Rishi, Abhay Kumar and Seema Dhiman — have been arrested in the case.
During earlier questioning, the arrested bank officials had alleged that the accounts were opened and operated in connivance with CREST and other officials between 2023 and 2025, when around ₹75 crore was parked in these accounts. They also claimed that payments were made to certain officials, allegations that police said were still under verification.
Investigators said they were working on establishing the complete money trail, identifying further beneficiaries and examining the role of additional public officials, who may have been involved in or aware of the transactions.