The CBI has finally managed to arrest the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner for Chandigarh, Manoj Kumar Pandey — absconding since raids on his house and office unearthed nearly Rs 50 lakh and other valuables earlier this month. Pandey, who was arrested on Tuesday night from Delhi, was today handed over to the Bureau for three days’ custodial interrogation by a court here.‘‘Searches at his residence carried out on the second of this month have turned up around Rs 46,62,000 in cash, other investments in instruments and movable and immovable properties,’’ the agency told the Sessions Court of H.P. Sharma in Patiala House Courts today.Requesting for Pandey’s custody till Saturday, it claimed that investigators had also hit upon ‘‘other incriminating documents and articles’’ during the raid. ‘‘We need to interrogate him further to know the source of his money and to discover facts related to the other recoveries,’’ it said.‘‘He was in Bangalore when the raids were carried out and was asked to join investigations there.he came back to Delhi two days later and still did not join investigations. When we went to serve a notice on him at his house four days later, we found it locked and were told he had left with his family.All his phones were either switched off or not being answered,’’ CBI Inspector N.K. Misra said.Pandey, however, told the court that the cash recovered was only ‘‘handed over’’ to him for safekeeping by relatives.
