India News | CBI Promises to Complete Probe into UPPCL EPF Scam by March-end

Lucknow, Jan 8 (PTI) The CBI on Friday gave an undertaking to the Allahabad High Court to complete by March this year its ongoing probe into the fraudulent investment of over Rs 2,600 of the UPPCL employees provident fund by the state's power major in the scam-hit housing finance firm DHFL.

The CBI gave the undertaking to a Lucknow bench, comprising Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, of the high court.

Following the CBI's promise, the court asked the investigation agency to complete its probe within the stipulated time.

The bench gave the direction to the CBI on a petition by UPPCL former Finance Director Sudhanshu Dwivedi, also an accused in the case, challenging the probe into the case.

The probe was initially started by the Uttar Pradesh Economic Offences Wing, but it was later transferred to the CBI.

Rebutting Dwivedi's pleas, the CBI apprised the court of the status of its investigation into the case, saying it was expeditiously conducting the probe and has perused over one lakh pages of various documents relating to the scam.

The agency said it has also examined many witnesses and recorded their statements.

The case involving the scam was initially lodged on November 2, 2019 under charges of embezzlement and cheating against the UP Power Sector Employees' Trust's former Secretary Praveen Kumar Gupta and Sudhanshu Dwivedi in Hazratganj police station here.

The UPPCL employees' EPF worth several thousand crore of rupees was invested in the Mumbai-based firm between March 2018 and October 2019 in violation of norms, when Dwivedi worked as its finance director.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)