Provident fund in scam-hit firm: Adityanath asks CBI to probe; 2 arrested

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday transferred to the CBI the case of investment of over 2,600 crore of state power employees' provident fund money in scam-hit DHFL, an official said.

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An FIR has been registered at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow against Praveen Kumar Gupta, the then secretary of the Uttar Pradesh State Power Employees Trust and the Provident Fund Trust of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation, and Sudhanshu Dwivedi, the then director, finance, the official said.

Gupta and Dwivedi have been arrested, the spokesperson said in a statement.

Adityanath directed the director general of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to investigate the case till the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) takes over the matter, an official said.

As per the documents available, Gupta was looking after the CPF trust and the General Provident Fund (GPF) trust, the statement said.

After getting approval from Dwivedi, Gupta worked against the guidelines of the Union Finance Ministry and diverted more than 50 per cent of the money towards the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), a private organisation, according to the statement.

"They knew that the said organisation is not a scheduled commercial bank, and is an unsafe private organisation,"it said.

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As per available records, GPF of employees amounting to Rs 2,631.20 crore was invested in DHFL.

In 2016, on a proposal of Gupta, an approval was given by Dwivedi and A P Mishra, the then managing director, that the GPF and CPF were invested in the PNB Housing, according to the spokesperson.

After this, in 2017, Gupta and Dwivedi started investing the money in DHFL without bringing the matter in the knowledge of the managing director.

After the matter came to light, Adityanath immediately directed the home department and the state police chief to initiate stringent action against the duo, the official said.

Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma told PTI that he met the chief minister in the morning and requested him to recommend a CBI probe. "Interest of employees is our priority," he said.

"The issue of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) investment in DHFL is serious. Strict action will be taken against whoever is guilty," the minister tweeted. "All the personnel of UPPCL are members of my family, the government will ensure that no one is hurt."

All India Power Engineers Federation chairman Shailendra Dubey had earlier told reporters only a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe could find out the real culprits behind "this conspiracy to siphon off the hard-earned money of employees".

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(PTI)