Shukla after being detained in Lucknow on Thursday. (PTI)

Lucknow, May 10: A former principal secretary of health was today arrested in connection with the Uttar Pradesh health scam, the first IAS officer to be held in the case.

Pradeep Shukla, who had topped the 1981 civil services examination and is married to an IAS officer, was held by CBI sleuths at Lucknow airport this morning as he was about to leave for Delhi.

Shukla was mission director of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), in which the Rs 5000-crore scam was said to have occurred between 2009-11. After the scandal came to the fore, he was shifted to the state revenue board.

The 55-year-old is named in three cases. He was held in one of them, on charges of having caused a loss of Rs 22.5 crore to the exchequer.

Shukla will be taken to Delhi for further interrogation and produced before a special CBI court in nearby Ghaziabad, an agency spokesperson said.

Shukla was interrogated by the CBI in January this year but was not arrested then as the agency was still gathering evidence. “He is a big catch and his interrogation may open a can of worms about the other accused,” said the CBI spokesperson.

Shukla is the fifteenth accused to be held in the scam. The fourteen others include contractors, state officers, doctors and a politician, former family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha. The BSP leader was arrested days before the Mayawati-led party was voted out of power in March.

The scam involved irregularities in the use of NRHM funds meant for upgradation of district hospitals and purchase of medicines.

Two senior doctors were found dead under mysterious circumstances in 2010 and 2011. The deaths were suspected to be linked to disclosures about the scandal.

Earlier this week, a chief medical officer, Dr A.K. Shukla, was held in connection with the killings. The agency told Allahabad High Court, which is monitoring the murder cases, that A.K. Shukla was the chief conspirator.