Formula E race case: Senior IAS officer appears before Anti-Corruption Bureau

Hyderabad: Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, one of the accused in the FIR registered in Formula E race issue, appeared before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) here on Wednesday.

The ACB had earlier summoned Arvind Kumar for questioning in connection with the alleged irregularities in conducting the Formula-E race, and accordingly he reached the agency's headquarters.

The ACB in December 2024 registered a case against BRS Working President and MLA KT Rama Rao, who was Municipal Administration Minister in the previous BRS regime, over alleged payments, most of it in foreign currency without approvals, to conduct the race in 2023 during the previous regime.

Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, was incharge of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department in 2023. He has been named as A-2 in the FIR in which Rama Rao, is the prime accused. Another retired bureaucrat BLN Reddy was named accused no 3.

The case was registered by ACB under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC dealing with criminal misappropriation, criminal misconduct, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy that allegedly resulted in loss to the government exchequer to the tune of about Rs 55 crore.

Though the race was supposed to be held in February 2024 as well, it was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.