Absconding UPPCL staffer held for ₹52L fraud

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the North Zone surveillance squad and Aliganj police traced him near Puraniya. “The accused attempted to escape on spotting the police, but our team caught him swiftly,” JK Dubey, ADCP North, said.

An absconding employee of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), accused of embezzling over ₹52 lakh from government funds, was arrested by Lucknow police on Sunday night. The accused, Ajay Kumar Verma, 40, had been on the run since April 2024 and carried a cash reward of ₹15,000.

The accused was posted as an executive assistant in the UPPCL. (Sourced)

Police said Verma, a resident of Indira Nagar, was posted as an executive assistant in the UPPCL. He allegedly withdrew ₹97.24 lakh while depositing only ₹44.69 lakh, thereby misappropriating ₹52,55,422. A complaint was filed last year by executive engineer Vishnu Kumar Saxena, after which Verma went into hiding.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the North Zone surveillance squad and Aliganj police traced him near Puraniya. “The accused attempted to escape on spotting the police, but our team caught him swiftly,” JK Dubey, ADCP North, said. He added that Verma had been absconding for more than a year and inquiries into his criminal history in other police stations are underway.

Police confirmed that a case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 316 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and Section 318 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

The electricity department has been asked to provide further details of the financial irregularities.