The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting searches at the premises of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik in connection with the alleged corruption in the Rs 2,200-crore Kiru Hydropower project, officials said. The CBI conducted searches at 29 other locations.

The federal agency started its operation on Thursday morning, with around 100 officers mobilised across 30 locations in multiple cities of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, besides Delhi and Mumbai, the officials said. Premises linked to Malik at R K Puram, Dwarka and Asian Games Village in Delhi, besides those in Gurugram and Baghpat, were searched, they said.

The searches also covered the premises of alleged associates of Malik, former chairman of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited Navin Kumar Chaudhary and officials of Patel Engineering Limited, the officials said.

Satya Pal Malik served as the 10th governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, from August 2018 to October 2019. The state became a Union Territory after the revocation of the special status with the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

The CBI conducted raids at eight locations in New Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the irregularities in the Kiru hydroelectric power project last month also.

CBI conducted raids at around eight locations - seven in Delhi and one in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir - based on evidence "suggesting involvement in ongoing investigations related to irregularities in the awarding and civil works of the Kiru hydroelectric power project."

Earlier in May 2023, CBI raids were conducted at 12 locations in Delhi and Rajasthan, including the house of the ex-press secretary, chartered accountant and personal assistant of the former J&K governor Satya Pal Malik, in Delhi, in connection with the alleged scam.

Sunak Bali was Satya Pal Malik's press secretary during his tenure as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and VS Rana and KS Rana were his CA and PA, respectively. The CBI team searched for 10 places in Delhi and two in Rajasthan.