NRHM scam: IAS officer held

The CBI on Thursday arrested senior IAS officer Pradeep Shukla in connection with the Rs5,700 crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam. He was presented before a special CBI court in Ghaziabad and sent to seven days judicial custody.

Shukla was principal secretary, family welfare, and mission director, NRHM, between 2007 and 2009, when the bulk of the NRHM scam was committed.

The CBI nabbed Shukla at the Lucknow airport when he landed from Delhi.

In January, the CBI had raided Shukla’s residence in Lucknow. He was also interrogated by the CBI in Delhi. However, the CBI had so far hesitated in arresting him apparently due to political pressure.

Shukla and his wife Aradhna, also an IAS, are known to be well-connected. Aradhna hails from a politically influential family and is the niece of Vidya Charan Shukla and Shyama Charan Shukla, both high-profile politicians from Madhya Pradesh.

Shukla has been named in three cases registered by the CBI. The total cost of projects in which these three cases have been registered is over Rs250 crore.

Shukla is also on the Enforcement Directorate’s radar. The ED is believed to have shortlisted half a dozen people in the NRHM scam, who have foreign connections or have been in touch with international contacts, particularly between 2007 and 2009. Shukla reportedly tops this list.

“Shukla is known to have made more than half a dozen foreign trips,” a source said.