CHANDIGARH: Anurag Veram a senior IAS officer of Punjab cadre was Sunday booked by the Chandigarh police for wrongful confinement and causing hurt following a complaint by his estranged wife.

Verma, who is presently managing director of the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC), has not yet been arrested. Police officials here said Verma would be arrested only after thorough investigation into the matter.

His wife Shveta Verma complained Wednesday that he assaulted her at his official residence in Sector 16 of Chandigarh when she went there to meet him.

Police registered the case after seeking legal opinion.

Shveta Verma showed bruises and injury marks to mediapersons at the Sector 17 police station when she went to file her complaint. She claimed that she was brutally beaten by Verma in front of her 10-year-old son.

The couple has been living separately for some time and their divorce application is pending before a court here for over one year.

The officer has maintained that the whole episode has been cooked up by his estranged wife to blackmail him in the divorce proceedings.