LUCKNOW: The UP government ordered filing of FIRs against the personal secretaries of three senior ministers on Thursday following a sting operation conducted by a news channel allegedly showing all three seeking bribes in the respective offices of the ministers against favours, including transfers and contracts.
Taking a strong note of the media reports over the sting, CM Yogi Adityanath ordered suspension of the three government staff with immediate effect while setting up a special investigation team (SIT) under additional director general of police (ADG) Lucknow zone, Rajeev Krishna, to probe the matter. The SIT has been asked to complete the probe and submit a report within 10 days to the government for further action after recording statements of all the parties concerned.
Besides, the state secretariat administration has been directed to review similar cases as well so keep a close eye on such activities in future.
However, the BJP government had to face embarrassment over the revelations of the sting as Chief Minister Yogi had been reiterating transparency in governance and zero tolerance on corruption.
The sting showed the personal secretaries of UP’s backward welfare minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, minister of state for mining Archana Pandey and minister of state for basic education Sandeep Singh seeking monetary favours for contracts or transfers.
While the personal secretary of Rajbhar, OP Kashyap, is shown allegedly seeking 40 lakh for a transfer, the secretariat staff is seen allegedly assuring the reporter, posing as a contractor, that a contract for school bag and uniform, could be manipulated by networking with the kin of other state minister.