Dehradun: Former Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut
Nigam Limited (UJVNL) chairman Yogendra Prasad was on Tuesday sent
to 14-day judicial custody by a court following his arrest by
vigilance department on the charges of corruption.
Prasad was produced before district judge Raj Krishan,
who sent him to 14-day judicial remand, a vigilance official
said, adding that Prasad`s bail plea was also rejected.
Prasad was called for questioning to vigilance office
where he was arrested last evening.
The vigilance department was on the lookout for Prasad
ever since the Uttarakhand High Court had vacated the stay on
his arrest in March this year.
Prasad, a former NHPC chairman, was appointed as an
advisor to the Uttarakhand government in 2006. Later, he took
over as chairman of UJVNL -- a state government agency for
power generation in 2007.
He was removed from the post last year as the
government stated he had already attained 65 years, the age
limit fixed for heading a corporation in the hill state.
Following the allegations of corruption against
Prasad, the government had handed over the inquiry to
vigilance which lodged several cases against him for misusing
his position in releasing payments worth crores of rupees to
various companies without proper verification.
Probes further revealed that he had awarded several
consultancy works related to various power projects, worth Rs
204.67 lakh, to Kaviet International where he was working as
an advisor.
It was also found that Kaviet office bearers Sandip
Agrawal and Shridhar Dutt Tripathi were colleagues of Prasad
during his tenure with NHPC, and they later floated the
company after retirement.
PTI
