EOW nabs absconding secretariat employee involved in ₹23.4L scam

Authorities had been in pursuit of Srivastava ever since the EOW obtained prosecution sanction against him on June 18, 2020.

LUCKNOW The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the U.P. Police has arrested an employee of the Uttar Pradesh Secretariat in connection with a fraud and corruption case amounting to ₹23.40 lakh, as confirmed by senior police officials.

The EOW initiated an investigation into this matter after registering an FIR at the Lucknow sector police station. (Representational photo)

The accused, terminated assistant review officer Rakesh Kumar Srivastava, had evaded authorities for over three years and was finally arrested from his residence in the Ramgarh locality, within the jurisdiction of Krishna Nagar police station, on Tuesday morning.

Authorities had been in pursuit of Srivastava ever since the EOW obtained prosecution sanction against him on June 18, 2020. During this period, the accused continuously changed his location to avoid arrest.

According to a press release issued by state police officials, Rakesh Kumar Srivastava was involved in a fraud amounting to ₹23.4 lakh, falsely representing that he could secure secretariat-related work for a private entity. This fraudulent activity occurred between October 5, 2012, and June 11, 2013.

The EOW initiated an investigation into this matter after registering an FIR at the Lucknow sector police station in 2019, based on a complaint filed by Amit Kumar Pandey. The FIR was filed under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for fraud and section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as the accused misused his position for personal monetary gain.

Throughout the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the entire sum of money had been transferred to Srivastava’s account through various bank accounts associated with the complainant and his firm.