Bhubaneswar, July 14 -- Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Odisha on Tuesday arrested former State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) director Manoj Padhi over alleged irregularities in the preparation and publication of school textbooks that contained more than 1,600 errors, causing an estimated loss of Rs.175 crores to the state exchequer.

"The lapses led to the printing and distribution of erroneous textbooks at an estimated cost of about Rs.175 crore to the state exchequer," said a CID official.

Padhi was arrested after prolonged questioning as part of the CID's investigation into errors found in newly published textbooks for Classes I to VIII under the state's revised curriculum aligned with the National E...