Yogi orders corruption probe against senior IAS officer

After inquiries into a number of multi-crore projects sanctioned by the former Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati regimes, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seems to now have bureaucrats in his crosshairs – on Friday, he ordered a vigilance probe against a 1994 batch IAS officer Amit Kumar Ghosh in an Rs 1,100 crore tender scam.

A complaint filed to the CM charged Ghosh with irregularities in awarding tenders in Trans Ganga City and Saraswati Hi-Tech City in Unnao as Managing Director of the UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) from August 2, 2016 through April 14, 2017.

"Ghosh has done tendering of works around Rs 1,100 crore in just eight months flouting all rules and proposed Action Plan for the financial year 2016-2017," complainant Arun Mishra said, seeking a probe and cancellation of the tenders.

Ghosh was last month removed by the CM, who has directed the Director-General Vigilance to submit a report on the allegations within 15 days.

The Yogi government is also likely to recommend a CBI probe into Akhilesh Yadav's Rs 1,513 crore Gomti Riverfront Beautification project. The CM on Friday also removed the Irrigation Department's Chief Engineer Kazim Ali who was heading the project. Earlier, an Assistant engineer was suspended.

A Judicial Commission, formed to probe irregularities, had indicted former Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan (now retired), former Principal Secretary Irrigation Deepak Singhal, Chief Engineer and about a dozen engineers and assistant engineers.