Prakash Joseph, legal officer of public sector Malabar Cements Ltd, was arrested on Monday by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), reports the Hindu.

Malabar Cements Ltd is estimated to have madea finiancial loss of INR270m (US$3.98m). The State government-owned PSU had signed a contract with a company owned by businessman VM Radhakrishnan for cement retailing.

Violating an agreement between the two firms, top officials of Radhakrishnan’s firm had withdrawn the mandatory security amount deposited at a bank without the knowledge of Malabar Cement's top officials.

When the PSU decided to challenge the issue in court, the case was taken up for consideration at a court in Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. However, Prakash Joseph allegedly misinformed the company that the case was at a Palakkad court.