The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday suspended senior Indian Police Service officer Nidigattu Sanjay after an enquiry by the Vigilance and Enforcement wing found that he had allegedly misappropriated Rs 1 crore when he was the director-general of the state disaster response and fire services, The Indian Express reported.

As the chief of the Crime Investigation Department, Sanjay had investigated several high-profile cases that included the alleged scam in the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation in which Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu was an accused person.

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In September 2023, the 1996 batch officer had overseen the Crime Investigation Department's operation to arrest Naidu in the case, according to The Indian Express.

Naidu became the chief minister in June after the Assembly elections.

During Sanjay’s tenure in the state disaster response and fire services, he floated tenders to create a web portal and supply of hardware, and colluded with a firm named Sauthrika Technologies and Infra Private Limited to make payments, although the company had completed only 14% of the work, the newspaper cited the vigilance and enforcement report as having alleged.

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Sanjay has also been accused of paying Rs 59,52,500 and Rs 59,51,500 to a Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe awareness workshop conducted by a Hyderabad-based company Kritvyap Technologies Private Limited, the newspaper reported.

However, the enquiry allegedly found that there was no such company in Hyderabad, the listed address had an office of Sauthrika Technologies and Infra Private Limited, according to The Indian Express.

In an order, Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad said that the state government had concluded after careful examination of the report that Sanjay had misutilised government funds and that it was necessary to place the officer under suspension pending enquiry.