Anubhav Mishra, a former employee of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, surrendered before the CBI court in Chandigarh on Thursday. He is one of the accused in the over Rs 116-crore fraud involving Smart City funds deposited in IDFC First Bank. Mishra had been on the run for more than five months before giving himself up.
The court has sent him to seven-day CBI remand for questioning.
Why CBI sought custody of former MC employee
Narender Singh, Public Prosecutor for the CBI, told the court that after the case was registered, Mishra left India and did not join the investigation. The agency issued repeated notices and made efforts to reach him, but he did not respond.
According to the CBI prosecutor, Mishra's custodial interrogation is required for a fair, complete and effective investigation. The agency wants to confront him with documentary and digital evidence collected during the probe regarding the opening and operation of a specific MC account.
What the Smart City funds scam involves
The case relates to a major financial fraud involving funds meant for Chandigarh Smart City projects. The money was deposited in a dedicated account with IDFC First Bank. The civic body detected the fraud while transferring funds from Chandigarh Smart City Limited to its own account.
The investigation has been looking into how the funds were handled and who was responsible for the irregularities. Mishra's role as a former MC employee is central to understanding how the account was opened and operated.
Investigation continues as accused surrenders
Mishra's surrender marks a key step in the ongoing probe. The CBI has been gathering evidence and questioning those linked to the case. With Mishra now in custody, investigators can examine his role in the alleged fraud and trace how the funds were misused.
The seven-day remand will allow the CBI to question him in detail and verify the evidence already collected.
Our Take: Surrender is progress, but questions remain
To put it plainly, Mishra's surrender is a positive development in this case. A suspect who fled the country and avoided investigation for over five months is finally in custody. That matters for the integrity of the probe.
But this is only one piece of a larger puzzle. The Rs 116-crore fraud raises serious concerns about how public money meant for city development could be misused. The fact that an employee could allegedly be involved in opening and operating accounts linked to the scam points to gaps in oversight.
What readers should watch now is whether the CBI's interrogation leads to more arrests and a clearer picture of how the fraud was carried out. The public deserves to know exactly what happened to these funds and who else may have been involved.
