National

Personal secretaries of three UP ministers arrested for seeking bribes

Yogi

Lucknow | A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested the personal secretaries of state ministers Archana Tripathi, Sandeep Singh and Om Prakash Rajbhar on charges of corruption and bribery.

“On getting sufficient evidence against the secretariat staff members, they have been arrested and sent to jail. The chief minister has a zero-tolerance towards corruption,” the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement late on Saturday night.

On December 28, the three were suspended on graft charges following a sting operation by a news channel. They were suspended on orders of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who also directed officials to register a police case against them, a state government release said.

In accordance with Adityanath’s direction, the matter will be probed by SIT and it will submit its report within 10 days after taking statements of all parties in the case, it said. The SIT will be led by Additional Director General of Police, Lucknow Zone, Rajiv Krishna.

A sting operation was conducted by a TV channel purportedly showing three personal secretaries of ministers allegedly seeking bribes in return for favours such as transfers and issuing contracts. In the sting operation, Om Prakash Kashyap, personal secretary of Backward Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar is purportedly seen asking for Rs 40 lakh for a transfer. Rajbhar, who is a minister from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), said he had removed his personal secretary and written to the chief minister to take stern action against him.

In the same sting operation, personal secretary of Minister of State for Mining Archana Pandey was shown allegedly striking a deal with the channel’s reporter for getting him mining contracts in about six districts. Santosh Awasthi, personal secretary to MoS Basic Education Sandeep Singh, is also seen in the sting operation allegedly working out a deal for a contract for books and seeking his own cut. Singh is the grandson of former UP chief minister and present Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh.

Dear Readers,
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
Some error occurred

Related posts

Politics

Defence minister lied in Parliament on HAL; must show documents or resign: Rahul Gandhi

TestHostEntry

New Delhi | Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman “lied” in Parliament that government orders worth Rs one lakh crore were provided to HAL, while demanding that she should either place the documents in support of her statement in the House or resign.

Gandhi’s attack came after a media report claimed that “not a single rupee of the said Rs 1 lakh crore has come to HAL, since not a single order, as claimed, has been signed till now”. The media report cited senior HAL management officials in order to back its claim.

The Congress has been targeting the government, alleging that it denied the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) an offset contract under the Rafale fighter jets deal with France, a charge the government has denied.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has accused the Congress of not supporting HAL during its rule and asserted that the government is now strengthening the defence public sector undertaking.

“When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies, to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the PM’s Rafale lie, the RM lied to Parliament,” Gandhi tweeted. “Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL. Or resign,” he said.

Gandhi had on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “weakening” HAL to help his “suit-boot” friend. Gandhi’s attack on Saturday had come over a media report which claimed that HAL, grappling with low finances, was forced to borrow Rs 1,000 crore to pay salaries to its employees for the first time in years.

Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted on Sunday: “The Lying Defence Minister’s Lies Get Exposed! Defence Minister claimed that procurement orders worth Rs 1 Lakh Crore provided to HAL! HAL says Not a SINGLE PAISA has come, as Not a SINGLE ORDER has been signed!”

“For the first time, HAL forced to take a loan of ?1000 Cr to pay salaries!,” he added.

Related posts

News Hub