DEHRADUN: A Uttarakhand Vigilance Department team was locked inside the Sitarganj tehsil complex overnight after revenue employees protested the arrest of two colleagues accused of accepting a Rs 14,000 bribe, bringing official work to a standstill for nearly 20 hours.
The confrontation in Udham Singh Nagar ended on Thursday after rounds of talks between officials and employee associations. Following an agreement, the vigilance team released the two detained revenue employees, while protesters withdrew their indefinite work boycott, removed the lock from the main gate and resumed duties.
The dispute began on Wednesday when vigilance officials conducted an operation on the tehsil premises and arrested a senior assistant and a collection ameen on allegations of accepting Rs 14,000 as illegal gratification.
Soon after the arrests, revenue employees gathered in large numbers and launched a sit-in protest. They alleged that the vigilance action was "one-sided" and had been carried out in disregard of departmental procedures.
As tensions escalated, the employees announced an immediate boycott of work and locked the tehsil’s main entrance. The move prevented the vigilance personnel from leaving the complex, effectively confining them there through the night.
Talks involving senior administrative officers and representatives of employee bodies continued for several rounds. A breakthrough was finally achieved on Thursday, leading to the release of the accused employees and the end of the protest.
"All issues have been resolved through dialogue with every side, and normal functioning has now been restored at the tehsil," Sub-Divisional Magistrate Tushar Saini said.
The shutdown inconvenienced residents, particularly those who had travelled from distant areas for land, revenue and document-related work. The restoration of services brought relief to visitors waiting for official transactions to resume.
The episode has attracted attention because of the unusual circumstances in which an anti-corruption team was held inside a government office following arrests in a bribery case. It was described as possibly the first such incident in Uttarakhand, with employees securing the release of arrested colleagues through collective pressure.
Neither the settlement’s precise terms nor the future course of the bribery investigation was immediately clear.
Insiders warned that the vigilance action and employees’ subsequent release "could raise serious questions about official procedure, investigators’ authority and accountability in corruption cases."