On Saturday, Abhay Rathore, an assistant engineer with the Indore Municipal Corporation, was arrested in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, as the prime suspect in a massive Rs107 crore forged drainage bill scam. Rathore maintains his innocence, claiming he is being wrongfully framed.
After an FIR was filed against him, Rathore had been evading arrest, hiding at his son-in-law’s home in Uttar Pradesh. He was apprehended by police in plain clothes while visiting a barber shop. Following his arrest, he was presented in court and remanded to police custody until May 15.
According to DCP (Zone-3) Pankaj Pandey, Rathore went into hiding after being implicated by earlier arrested suspects in the scam. A reward of Rs25,000 was announced for information leading to his capture.
Despite multiple raids in search of Rathore, he managed to evade authorities until they received a tip-off about his whereabouts. Police discovered he had contacted a driver associated with the Indore Municipal Corporation, which led them to his location. Rathore was arrested on Friday evening.
Authorities are currently investigating his financial records, including bank accounts and safety deposit boxes. So far, police have identified 60 fraudulent drainage bills, with payments amounting to Rs30 crore already processed.
DCP Pandey reported that Rathore is being interrogated to determine his involvement in the scheme. Initial findings suggest that Rathore provided critical details from various IMC offices to contractors, who were arrested earlier for preparing the forged bills. Some files related to the drainage projects are missing, and efforts are underway to locate them.
To date, five cases have been filed, resulting in the arrest of nine individuals, including Rathore. The investigation is ongoing to assess the roles of other contractors, IMC employees, and officials.
After his court appearance, Additional CP Amit Singh questioned Rathore at the MG Road police station. Rathore reiterated his claim of innocence, suggesting he is being framed by Executive Engineer Sunil Gupta. He also stated that he was in the IMC’s Election Cell during the time of the alleged scam, having previously worked in the trenching department. Sources indicated that Rathore received insulin during questioning due to his diabetes.
