Vipul Chaudhary, ex-chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), has been arrested for his alleged role in a ₹14.8 crore embezzlement case, police said on Sunday.
Mr. Chaudhary was arrested on Saturday from Gandhinagar for allegedly embezzling money earmarked as bonus for the staff of Dudhasagar Dairy cooperative in Mehsana, of which he was an ex-chairman, a CID official said.
An FIR was lodged against Mr. Chaudhary and others, including Dudhsagar chairperson Ashaben Thakor, vice-chairman Modhjibhai Patel, and managing director N.J. Bakshi, at CID Crime police station. They were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Mr. Chaudhary was earlier sacked as chairman of GCMMF and Dudhsagar Dairy over an alleged scam in which cattle feed was provided free of cost to the Maharashtra government, causing a loss of ₹22.5 crore.
A tribunal court had, in 2018, directed him to deposit 40% of ₹22.5 crore (over ₹9 crore) with Dudhsagar Dairy by October 2019. To accumulate this amount, the accused allegedly hatched a conspiracy and misused their authority to involve 30 officials to siphon off ₹14.8 crore earmarked as bonus for 1,932 staffers of Dudhsagar, the CID said.
